Music reviews. CD reviews. Critically hip!

Wayne Gratz is Narada's answer to George Winston ---nothing wrong with that, actually --- and A PLACE WITHOUT NOISE is a perfect title. While Gratz does make some noise (what would be the point, otherwise?) it's unobtrusive, just Gratz and his piano, with Paul Fleury on cello. I'm kind of a sap for cello music, which is why I've got Khronos Quartet CDs all over the frigging place, so I find myself returning to Gratz, and A PLACE WITHOUT NOISE, more often than I would have anticipated.

Cello, notwithstanding, the focus here is on Gratz and his piano. All of the compositions on A PLACE WITHOUT NOISE are designed to soothe and settle, rather than stir. There are some synthesizer effects dubbed in here and there ("Center", "Change of Season" ) but they tend, for the most part, to be unobtrusive. The overall effect is to put you in the mind of the CHARIOTS OF FIRE soundtrack.

This is background music, music for a Sunday morning when you're sitting and reading, music to fold the laundry by or eat a romantic supper to. In fact, I heard "Any Color But Blue" during dinner at an upscale restaurant the other night, and impressed the beejezus out of the waitress and the folks at the next table (and the Mrs., as well) when they wondered aloud who and what it was. So I don't make those comparisons unkindly; even the most spiritually bereft among us can't listen to Rob Zombie 24/7/365. And while I can't imagine having a whole shelf full of this music, one or two of these discs will do you quite nicely.

Gratz is quite good at what he does, and while I don't anticipate him releasing a CD full of Doors' covers, as Mr. Winston recently did, I can certainly see why he has a large and growing fanbase. His understated playing and instantly memorable melodies are easy on the ear and the soul. You need at least one of his discs.