Asher Fulero by Zipporah Lomax

Keyboardist don’t come more versatile or off-handedly fearless than Asher Fulero, an astute student of keyboard history in the recorded musical era that never allows his learned POV to get in the way of playing with feeling and immediacy. A fixture of the West Coast jazz, jam and rock scenes for many years, Fulero, still a young player, has already established himself as one of Matt Butler’s go-to guys for Everyone Orchestra – always a sign of a high quality, open-minded musician – as well as an explorer of electronic music’s new frontiers with Halo Refuser and Surrounded By Ninjas. But these projects only hint at his depths, which folks may sometimes miss because of his general good nature and unassuming approach to his craft. Rather than wave his arms to draw attention to his contributions, Fulero just wades into myriad situations with a smile and gets down to business, a superb collaborator and gracious co-conspirator with oodles of solo stomping magic tucked up his sleeve.

However, Fulero’s ability to blend in and accentuate the positives in his band mates sometimes means that his work doesn’t get the attention it deserves. Thankfully his newest offering, Liminal Rites pick it up (released June 4 and available here), is a solo piano outing that finds Fulero soaring into breathy, gorgeous spaces that showcase all the creativity, natural talent and gig-honed skill living in his hands. While many high-end players have distinctive ticks, Fulero really doesn’t except for an abiding emotional well that he pours into his compositions and performances, and the emotional undertow on this solo album is powerful, a gravity that pulls at the heart and makes eyes well up at times.

On Liminal Rites there is love and dreaming, spirit and struggle, peace and discord, and all together it plays out like an affair without words – wordless because none are needed. Who is the affair with? Could be someone mortal – what else drives songwriters to such passion? – but Liminal Rites also comes across as a conversation with the universe and perhaps God, a descendent of McCoy Tyner’s 60s musings with Coltrane filtered through the genre-cracking atmospherics of George Winston and the limber, lean-in-close ivory dancing of John Hicks and Don Pullen.

It’s the kind of record one puts on when they need to muse and stretch their mind beyond the friction and bustle of the day, an album for sunrises and moon watching, perhaps best enjoyed alone or holding hands with someone dear who’s comfortable listening and absorbing without needing to intrude with language and digressions. It is incredibly beautiful and as naked a presentation of Fulero’s many gifts as a musician and composer as anything in his ever-expanding catalog. For the Impound’s tastes, we think it’s the best album he’s ever made – a revelation of just how bloody good this guy is at what he does.

Here’s what Asher had to the Impound’s keyboardist inquiry.

read on for Asher’s answers