Kemuel Roig’s Both Sides Now is a solo-piano album built on a deceptively simple idea: take familiar songs, remove almost everything that usually carries them, and see whether melody alone can still speak. Released on Life in Music, the album presents Roig alone at the piano across a long, reflective program that moves from Paul McCartney and Joni Mitchell to Cole Latin American songbook staples such as “Bésame Mucho” and “Solamente Una Vez.”
But Roig does not approach these pieces like a pianist trying to “jazz up” well-known material. He performs in the style of someone reading old letters, and that is exactly where the emotional center lies. memory, tenderness, regret, and acceptance are all expressed without a rhythm section, and often without any urgency at all.
The opening “Junk” immediately sets the tone. Roig slows the McCartney tune into a waltz-like meditation, making it feel like a small nocturne. “How Can I Be Sure” is even stronger. Instead of leaning into the song’s sweetness, Roig finds the uncertainty underneath it, using harmonic movement between D minor and E-flat minor to mirror the lyric’s emotional doubt.
The first major peak is Jimmy Rowles’ “The Peacocks,” which appears twice, including a bonus version. It is one of the album’s most demanding pieces, harmonically strange and emotionally elusive. Roig handles it with patience, with the second version taking on a more dissonant tone that deepens the album’s atmosphere.
The Latin pieces are where Roig’s voice feels most naturally rooted. “Solamente Una Vez” is delicate and inward, while “Bésame Mucho” gradually opens from intimacy into quiet passion. Towards the end of the album, “Esta Tarde Vi Llover” reveals Roig’s roots, combining Cuban sentiment with jazz and classical-romantic accents.
At nearly 76 minutes on the CD program, Both Sides Now asks for a lot of stillness from the listener. But the best moments are so sincere and emotionally direct that the album’s generosity feels easier to forgive. Both Sides Now is a love-song record in the broadest sense, and Roig’s emotional performance only adds to its power.