Salvatori Productions 2025
Lullaby For Jude
To sculpt magnificence from sadness: Illinois composer caresses six strings and weaves classic melodies into his lacy lore.
Sad songs say so much, according to a certain hit, yet sometimes words are redundant, especially if said songs intend to induce a hypnagogic state and result in a stream of consciousness: that’s a secret Tom Salvatori knows only too well. But while he laid down the “Goodnight Lullaby” EP back in 2022, this set of instrumental pieces emerges from a different place, even more intimate one than “Lullaby For Henry” outlined on "La Bella Vita" two years later, because “Lullaby For Jude” is an epitaph to an infant boy the musician’s family lost recently. Offering two Tom originals and two borrowed from the outside world, all spanning a mere twelve minutes, another of Salvatori’s mini-albums may seem dark at first, but in fact it’s full of light – and shade as well.
Yes, there’s anguish in the delicate strum of the titular ballad – but there’s also immense love in the unhurried fingerwork the haunting tune arises from. Sweet yet increasingly robust, it begs to be extended; however, “With This Love” that follows reframes the celestial scope of Peter Gabriel’s “Passion” into a much more earthly and quiet – and, thus, so poignantly relatable – flow of notes. The same method might have been applied to a part of Grieg’s “Suite #1 from Peer Gynt” that brings things to a close, yet this symphonic gem gets distilled to sparse essentials to allow the player’s – and the listener’s – emotions fill in the gaps between sounds. Leading up to such a feelings-pregnant finale is “I Wait And I Wonder” which places placidity in the center of what could pan out as anger, and as far as lullabies go, nothing can resolve, or dissolve, sorrow as effectively as surrendering to serene mindfulness before falling asleep. A gem.
*****
