His wild kingdom is a baby-grand piano

For San Diego based pianist/composer Edward Weiss, there is occasionally a moment just before sunset in La Jolla when the light turns golden and soft and casts magic over the world. When that ethereal glow falls on a tree, or birds flying overhead, or on the Pacific Ocean, Weiss stops what he is doing, takes out a notebook and sketches the notes that may become a new piece of music.

"Those moments go right to the heart of what inspires me," said Weiss, president of Quiescence Music, a New Age/contemporary music label he founded to help market and distribute his music. "Not every place captures my attention musically, but some places, especially San Diego, puts me in a place of meditative calmness. That's what I'm after in these compositions: that moment frozen in time."

Composing what he calls 'aural landscapes,' Weiss has taken advantage of the natural beauty that exists in San Diego and its surrounding areas. In a two-year period between 2000 and 2002, he has found the time to compose "La Jolla Suite" and "Anza-Borrego Desert Suite;" both solo piano works.

"I go out every day, usually in the mornings when it's cooler," he said. "I jot down notes or chord progressions that come to me and then return to my home studio to flush out the composition and either finish it entirely at once, or come back to it later when fresh inspiration occurs."

That deliberation paid off, too. Not content to simply re-create the scenes he encountered, Weiss said he was able to "translate" the scenes by becoming still and letting the music write itself. "It's as if I'm a channel for the music and my job is just to write it down," says Weiss.

The effect is enchanting. Weiss's music seems to find the magic of San Diego and distill it. The listener has the sense of not only standing in these incredible places but also of feeling the golden sun or the soft breeze. Take "Torrey Pines," a track off of La Jolla Suite, for example. The music evokes a sense of being surrounded by these endangered trees with a feeling of sadness.

"Generally I feel that if an artist has something to say, his or her job is to express it clearly" says Weiss. "It's OK to compose personal subjects, but they have to open up in a universal way so people can understand. That's why I don't create too many of those; each time I do I run the risk of shutting out a listeners access to my work. "I don't want to do that. I actually think that's a cop-out on an artist's part. That's why structure, harmony and composition are so important to me. I want to create music that people can access and understand." People can purchase the CD online at quiescencemusic.com/edward_weiss.

For a sample CD of La Jolla Suite call Quiescence Music at 619-364-6652