Aleksandra Ionowa - Improvisations on the Grand Piano LP

https://ultraaanirecords.bandcamp.com/album/improvisations-on-the-grand-piano

Originally self-released in 1980, Improvisations on the Grand Pianocaptures the otherworldly piano music of Finnish-Russian artist, mystic, and largely self-taught pianist Aleksandra Ionowa (1899–1980). A prolific and visionary outsider artist, Ionowa spent her life channeling mystical experience into thousands of esoteric drawings and intuitive piano improvisations.

Recorded in November 1978, when Ionowa was 79 years old, the album is meditative and deeply intuitive, unfolding in shimmering pentatonic waves. To today’s listener, it may evoke the spiritual intimacy of artists like Laraaji or Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou, while remaining wholly her own.

Now reissued for the first time by Puro Recordings and Ultraääni Records, the album is available in limited splatter-colored vinyl, with additional artwork and a new essay by Samuli Huttunen.