" data-original-title="" title="">Josh Lawrence has had a long and diverse trek to where he is now. Beginning in his native New Jersey, he has embraced jazz culture in Philadelphia, Europe, and finally New York City, where he has gained a solid reputation as a musician, bandleader, and composer.

On his second release for the Posi-Tone label, Lawrence explores several different avenues of musical expressionism with his "Color Theory" project. The new record, entitled Contrast, digs into the counterpoint of joy and pain, inspired by the works of painter/art theorist Vasily Kandinsky. Kandinsky outlined the theory of the definitive sound of colors, noting for example, the bright yellow conceptualization of treble, which could never be mistaken for the dark colors and depth of bass tones.

Contrast is composed of a pair of five movement suites, much like two sides of an LP. The first suite takes its titles from the Kandinsky collection of paintings in the Guggenheim collection, the second being referred to as the "American side." The abstract musical perception is as a prism to create music out of color.

For this session, Lawrence surrounds himself with musicians that personify his personal growth as an artist, including a major influence from his Philly days, pianist