Inspired by the sound of an alarm clock going off, Hiromi, Anthony Jackson and Simon Phillips perform Hiromi's composition
Move.
posted by Lutoslawski
on Mar 11, 2013 -
21 comments
To say that Messiaen's Vingt Regards sur L'Enfant-Jesus (Twenty Contemplations on the Infant Jesus) is a masterpiece is a gross understatement. Over sixty years after its composition, it has rightfully earned the recognition of being one of the most important piano works of the 20th century. ... [It] is one of the most personal and intimate pieces Messiaen ever wrote, and it gives the listener a close look at Messiaen the person. Messiaen was a deeply religious person, and although his faith influenced every single piece he wrote, the Vingt Regards is almost like his own personal spiritual diary. -
Keith Kerchoff [more inside]
posted by Egg Shen
on Dec 13, 2012 -
16 comments
“Her early records are collectors’ items. Her writing and playing have become part of the pattern of jazz history. She has transcended the difficulties experienced by women in the music field and through several decades has held a position of eminence as one of jazz’s most original and creative pianists. She speaks softly: ‘Anything you are shows up in your music—jazz is
whatever you are playing yourself, being yourself, letting your thoughts come through.’”
Mary Lou Williams: Into The Sun, a conversational profile by fellow pianist Marian McPartland, 1964.
[more inside]
posted by koeselitz
on Nov 16, 2012 -
6 comments
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is well-known for having been a child prodigy. A previously unknown composition of his, dated c. 1767, when he would have been 11 years old,
(PDF of score) had it's
premiere earlier this week.
[more inside]
posted by bardophile
on Mar 25, 2012 -
32 comments
Marian McPartland's Piano Jazz is the longest-running cultural program on National Public Radio - having been hosted by Ms. McPartland from June 4, 1978 through November 10, 2011. Her guests included
Eubie Blake,
Carla Bley,
JoAnne Brackeen,
Ray Charles,
Alice Coltrane,
Chick Corea,
Bill Evans,
Herbie Hancock,
Andrew Hill,
Dick Hyman,
Ahmad Jamal,
Keith Jarrett,
Hank Jones,
Oscar Peterson,
Michel Petrucciani,
Marcus Roberts, and
McCoy Tyner.
posted by Trurl
on Feb 19, 2012 -
25 comments
Let's tickle the ivories There is an old proverb that goes “Play the piano daily and stay sane.” For me, the main word of this proverb is daily. Playing the piano daily means inevitable accomplishment, and, without a sense of accomplishment, life is an impoverished journey.
posted by Wolof
on Feb 12, 2012 -
46 comments
Marc-André Hamelin composed
Circus Galop for the player piano. Performing it is impossible for a mere pair of human hands, but two people have tried to
fake it until they make it. Another has
transcribed it (or half of it, perhaps) for
one player. Often, people will run it through a MIDI sequencer of their choice, to make a
lively animation. Some have built
Arduino robots that
perform it. But, in the end, the best medium for a work this insane is the humble, yet manic
player piano (less manic, but clearer-sounding performance
here). Hamelin
himself has run his composition through one, managing to get his television host to start dancing as the closing credits fade out...
posted by Blazecock Pileon
on Jan 3, 2012 -
34 comments
Préludes Op. 28 by Chopin, played live by Vladimir Ashkenazy. This must have been recorded around 1980, when he was touring with these pieces. No.
1-6 [more inside]
posted by Namlit
on Oct 28, 2011 -
9 comments
"
Art Tatum was [one of the two] dominant piano players of the 1930s, astounding everyone with his technique, most especially other piano players, who were convinced he was playing the impossible" -- Chick Corea, hosting a segment on the largely overlooked
Arthur "Art" Tatum, Jr. If that display of skill and improvisation has you interested, here are a few documentaries about the mostly blind piano man who made other pianists question their instrument choice, yet often left the public at large overwhelmed (or unimpressed):
Toledo Stories: The Tatum Legacy (YouTube, 28 minutes) ::
Art Tatum - The Art Of Jazz Piano (YT, 52 min.) ::
Art Tatum: A Talent Never to Be Duplicated (NPR, audio only, 11 min.) ::
Art Tatum, 'The Musician's Musician' (NPR audio, 54 min.)
[more inside]
posted by filthy light thief
on Oct 25, 2011 -
33 comments
One of America's most idiosyncratic musical geniuses was, of course, the great Thelonious Monk (
Wiki), and what better way to celebrate his birthday today than viewing (in its entirety!) an excellent documentary on the man and his music?
Straight, No Chaser
posted by flapjax at midnite
on Oct 10, 2011 -
25 comments
Since the late '70s,
Gordon Monahan has been
making a
career of extracting the unheard from pretty much anything he can get his hands on.
Monahan's works for
piano, loudspeakers, video, kinetic sculpture, and computer-controlled sound environments span various genres from avant-garde concert music to multi-media installation and sound art.
Such pieces include
long string installations activated by wind (Long Aeolian Piano, 1984-88), by
water vortices (Aquaeolian Whirlpool, 1990) and by
indoor air draughts (Spontaneously Harmonious in Certain Kinds of Weather, 1996). His work for
electronic tone generators and
human speaker swingers (Speaker Swinging, 1982), is a hybrid of science, music, and
performance art, where
minimalistic trance music based on the Doppler Effect contrasts with issues central to
performance art such as physical struggle and '
implied threat'.
John Cage once said, "
At the piano, Gordon Monahan produces sounds we haven't heard before."
[more inside]
posted by wcfields
on Apr 29, 2011 -
4 comments
The lunch concerts in the Amsterdam Concertgebouw used to be (possibly still are) often public general rehearsals for the big evening series.
Here we can see the mental transformation of pianist
Maria Joao Pires, who expects another Mozart concerto than conductor
Riccardo Chailly begins to conduct.
[more inside]
posted by Namlit
on Feb 19, 2011 -
17 comments
