The charming concept of this unique album by Gary Farr is purely delightful as each track musically transports the listener on a geographical tour through the vast melting pot of Los Angeles. A whimsical map of L.A. is shown on the actual CD which illustrates the areas depicted by each song, and as a true Angelino myself, born and brought up in Los Angeles, I can sincerely attest to Gary’s astonishing artistic sensibility to accurately capture the authentic feel of each location. As a result, there is a wonderful diversity to be found on this album. Each piece musically portrays the pop culture feeling found in the chosen locale with such precision, that a strong nostalgic wave overcomes me every time I listen to this CD. Despite the diverse nature of each track's style, mood, instrumentation, and arrangement, this album grooves with wonderful cohesion, blending funky cool jazz, new age, and smooth easy listening ~ ultimately forming Gary’s “own” sound. His dazzling pianistic technique and sensitive expression keeps the listener enchanted throughout. I enjoy every cut on this album, as each one takes me to a different spot in L.A. The lively and sweet melodic piano in "The Santa Monica Mix" is surrounded by a gorgeous string and horn arrangement, and the nostalgia it evokes for me brings on such sentimental joy. I also love "Cool Nights & Hollywood Lights" which puts a smile on my face and a groove to my move :o) Then there's the soulful funky "vocal" mix of "Movin' Thru L.A." Wow! But my favorite is "Romance In Beverly Hills" because Gary’s piano simply melts my heart with the outpouring of this romantic melody. This album is like a precious musical mascot for the City of Los Angeles ~ truly one of a kind and uniquely special. “Movin’ Thru L.A.” is a rare and worthy collector's item for any music aficionado!
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I've loved Gary's New Age albums "Lost" & "To Be Free", and now I've found a whole new dimension to this fantastic musician.  Not being a real "jazz fan", I wasn't sure I'd like this album.  That was before I heard it!!  Wow, what a great album!  A real mix of music styles and I guess that fits the title because Los Angeles is a city of a real mix of styles, cultures, and heritages.  Some of these tracks are what I would call 'cool jazz', some are what I would call 'easy listening/piano bar music' and some are what I would call New Age Jazz.  All of the tracks are composed by Gary Farr and he plays all the piano, keyboard and the string/horn arrangements.  He even throws in some sound effects like train sounds, squealing car tires, wind sounds, etc.   Favorite tracks?  All of them!    Seriously, there aren't any bad tracks or tracks you skip over to get to something else.  That said, yes I do have a favorite, and it's the 8th track, titled "Romance In Beverly Hills" which starts out as a solo piano performance by a master of the piano.  After about a minute of piano solo, Gary brings in an arrangement of soft strings which accompany the piano for 30 seconds, then back to solo piano, then the strings return with a string bass and finally, about 3:30 into the piece, the strings and bass are joined by a soft trumpet, all backing up that truly fantastic piano!  Oh my, what great music!
     Another of my favorites is "The Colors Of Malibu" and I really can't explain why; it just seemed to hit a magic vibe in me.  As I said, all of these tracks are really good and each is entirely different, involving different tempos, different instrumentation, different styles and moods.  It really doesn't matter whether you are a fan of cool jazz, new age, piano, easy listening, or if you just want something that will relax you and entertain you at the same time, this is an album you should own!
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