Echoes of Love

The back cover of Omar Akram’s Echoes of Love notes that the pianist was recently married and that the album “unfolds [as] a true love story,” which is evident after only a few tracks. The CD features a melting pot of instrumentalists on keyboards, guitars, bass, drums, violin, flutes, percussion, and tabla. By turns soft and gentle or sassy and vibrant, the music is suffused with romance and liberal doses of global influences, especially Mediterranean. Love is, after all, the universal language … or is that music? Echoes of Love is a sure winner and would make a great Valentine’s Day gift, so display it with merchandise aligned with that “day for lovers.”