If you perchance are seeking unexpected solo piano interpretations of jazz standards you may have come to the right place.
Playing piano improvisations is a most unexpected pursuit. It only came about when a friend’s mother asked me to play what are essentially jazz standards for her once a week, not knowing I wasn’t really a pianist. However, it turned out to be true what they say about practice, and after performing for a period of months found myself wondering about going beyond simply playing jazz standards as written, and delving into actual improvisation. Doing so, I kept in mind the admonition Bill Evans had for his brother, that it is best to develop one’s own unique approach as opposed to copying an existing style.
Stargirl contains "Fly Me To The Moon," "My Shining Hour," a pure improvisation titled "Last Flowers," and "Maria."
Orion’s Hour features "There Will Never Be Another You," " East of the Sun and West of the Moon," and another pure improvisation titled "Silk Dyed."
Turning Rain presents "It’s A Blue World," "Tangerine," and "The Lady Is A Tramp."
All three of these albums were recorded on December 12, 2020 in one session. These three albums contain all the music recorded that day, with the exception of "Maria" from the Stargirl album, which was recorded on December 8, 2017. There were no edits made to any of the tracks on these three albums.
I had no intention of improvising on jazz standards last December, my previous piano improvisations having been based on Indian ragas or pure extemporizations. I am more surprised than anyone how after two pure improvisations, later titled "Last Flowers" and "Silk Dyed," I spontaneously decided to explore some favorite jazz standards. Similarly, "Maria" was only recorded because there was extra time left after a December 2017 meruvina session. That day there had not even been any intention to record myself playing piano at all!
While the vast scope and complex musical and psychological content of these improvisations are deserving of individual liner notes, something provided for my meruvina recordings, doing so would be a fulltime job, and I simply don’t have the time and energy for it with all my other musical projects happening. Hiring someone to write notes for these albums did occur to me, and perhaps will do so for future piano improvisation recordings.
If asked what possible influences there have been on my piano improvisations based upon jazz standards, these would likely come from two traditions. Frank Sinatra, Lennie Tristano, Lee Konitz, Bill Evans and John Coltrane would be the likely jazz influences, and Pandit Jasraj, Ravi Shankar, Shivkumar Sharma, and Anindo Chatterjee would be the likely Indian classical music influences.
There was confirmation for being on the right track when being very tired, I dozed off while listening to one of these albums, and after a period became half awake wondering what this very cool music was that sounded related to Lennie Tristano and Lee Konitz while definitely not being them. Lee Konitz was both my primary jazz teacher and one of my favorite artists, his primary teacher being Lennie Tristano.
Maybe you will hear something that hasn’t occurred to me at all. I prefer not to analyze this music too music myself, rather simply enjoying the experience as a refreshing sideline to my composed music.
Those familiar with my compositions for meruvina may enjoy comparing and contrasting that music with my piano improvisations, or simply listen independently of each musical format.
It was singers like Frank Sinatra and Louis Armstrong who awakened me to how intrinsically crucial lyrics are for jazz standards, Sinatra even stating they are more important than the music. At the very least, the lyrics for these songs are as momentous as the music, and are fully wedded to the music. Not knowing these lyrics hides much of the inner depth for the songs. All the great instrumental swing and modern jazz artists were intimate with the lyrics of the standards they played, something that is often overlooked. Myself, I am just discovering many of these lyrics for the first time having merely known jazz standards instrumentally in the past.
Stargirl, Orion's Hour and Turning Rain, like my earlier piano improvisation albums, are deliberately only available on Bandcamp for the time being. Perhaps they will be added to other major platforms at a later time.
Minimal and emotionally evocative compositions for solo piano in the Ryuichi Sakamoto vein from Cincinnati's Tristan Eckerson. Bandcamp New & Notable Feb 18, 2020
Chicago composer & pianist Michael R. Oldham uncorks a dazzling album of piano compositions, bursting with warm, uplifting melodies. Bandcamp New & Notable Oct 30, 2021
There’s a quiet beauty to this remix album of compositions by Michael Vincent Waller, with contributions from JLin, Prefuse 73, & more. Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 1, 2024
