background
My previous 3 piano improvisation albums had concepts of scale or a ritual involved in the performance. When recording A Full Moon Summer Night’s Dream - a single restrained spacious piece on the edge of tonality, in a candlelit ritualised atmosphere of a full moon at midnight, it was a powerful experience, and I felt i had taken that as far as I could.
I decided to simply record short pieces again, as I had done on my Glisten album 9 years ago. As then, I only recorded only 1 or 2 a day so I would arrive to the keyboard with a fresh mind. I thought of the album as a letter home, reflecting “how things are” with me, in life and musically.
I find recording these albums quite an emotional experience. I have been improvising at the piano since childhood and playing has become a largely subconscious experience with just the occasional steer from the conscious - the music seems to come from somewhere else. But I can also hear the myriad of little references, influences, and techniques gathered over these many years. I can hear “how things are” with me in ways I am not conscious of, but I’m still not sure where all this music comes from.
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