As I have continued along several musical paths over the years – composing chamber and orchestral music, composing for and performing in various jazz and modern jazz groups, and performing in free improvisation contexts, I have maintained a solo piano “project”. My preferred format for a solo concert over the past 20 years has been a suite; an uninterrupted set of compositions, a mix of standards and my own compositions. I was first drawn to the format after listening to a solo concert by Randy Weston in Paris where he performed the compositions in sets of 3. I was impressed by how captivating the weaving in and out of the songs was, and by how free one could be with the transitions. I was swept along through each set of 3 pieces but at the end of the set I repeatedly felt a letdown; I wanted the musical spell to continue. So I began to perform concerts where I try to not let the spell end until the end.
As the tradition of the piano, jazz or otherwise, is vast, for any musician who takes on a solo concert many stylistic choices can be made. From single line passages, to stride, to two full hands of notes, from a solo voice to an orchestra, from harmonic simplicity to clusters, it is all in front of the musician.
I hope you will enjoy my choices.
This recording is from one of the few concerts I have been able to give since the arrival of Covid19, performed October 24 at the Pavillon d’Artois in Vaux-sur-Seine.
I have uploaded the concert as a single track. Below is the program with approximate timings.
0:00-3:24 Up Jumped Spring (Freddie Hubbard)
3:24-7:00 Stella by Starlight (Victor Young)
7:00- 9:44 It Could Happen to You (Jimmy Van Heusen)
9:44-13:00 I Didn’t Know What Time It Was (Richard Rodgers)
13:00-18:20 Prelude to a Kiss (Duke Ellington)
18:20 22:30 Rose Moon (Christopher Culpo)
22:30-25:30 I’ll Remember April (Gene de Paul)
25:30-29:30 In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning (David Mann)
29:30-32:35 Willow Weep for Me (Ann Ronell)
32:35-37:03 In Love In Vain (Jerome Kern)
37:03-38:00 Coda -Up Jumped Spring
