Solo Piano Works: Excerpts CD

The piano pieces on this album are excerpts from much longer improvisations, which were performed in a series of concerts in cities across Canada, over a number of years. These are more or less completely improvised, starting from a blank slate as it were (the exceptions are the 'Broken Saints Concert' segments, some of which contain themes from the series soundtrack which I used as music 'springboards'). For these excerpts, I have tried to select segments that convey the kind of spaces these longer 'journeys' move through, while at the same time standing alone as individual pieces, with their own stories to tell...Disc One contains excerpts from two albums, 'continuum:one' and 'The Brokensaints Concert'. Disc two presents excerpts from a third piano disc, 'The Cathedral Concert', plus a series of shorter improvisations on harpsichord. These last pieces are studio recordings, but all the piano segments were recorded in front of live audiences, whose attention and energy were a vital part of the experience for me - and thus form an integral component of the music itself. While this is true of any live performance, I feel it is an especially powerful influence in the context of wholly improvised music - after all, I don't really know where the music is 'coming from' any more than you do. One idea leads to the next, and in directing and responding to this musical 'flow' I am profoundly affected by the emotional energy around me. As with any such collection, I hope these excerpts will make you want to hear the full-length tracks, all available from Subtle Arts music through cdbaby.com...