This piece is the first of my most recent session ("recent" is, of course, relative - it was recorded in February). Of all of the sessions, I think that this one shows the most Keith Jarrett influence, specifically his Köln Concert. (If you are still not familiar with that recording, I highly recommend it.) I can hear him all over these improvs; I'm okay with that.
So, on to the first piece, entitled "Robert Siegel"*. I like this piece a lot. Here are some of the reasons I like it, in the order in which they occur:
- the regular phrase lengths, tempo, and meter of the first section, yet irregular ostinato and accents.
- the strict modality of D major. Yet notice which note I don't play at all? C#. And yet almost every phrase ends, harmonically, in V (A major). They're ALL suspensions, but they sound really natural. I don't introduce a C# until I've wound my way into B minor (actually B Dorian).
- the seamless transformation of the 3/2 meter into a 12/8
- the unrelenting yet delicate ostinato of the arpeggiated B minor (first inversion) chord in the left hand
- the unpredictable accents and wrong notes in the right hand against said ostinato
- the obvious return to D major in the right while the left stubbornly continues to insert the B minor
- the triumphant "return" by both hands to D Lydian. It sounds like the piece finally found its home.
- the open, probing ending
This piece is 14 minutes long, the longest that I have posted, and it doesn't feel too long.
* The suggestion to name these pieces after NPR personalities came from my brother. It was good one, I think.
Recorded on February 11th, 2008, at Peace Church of the Brethren, in Portland, OR, with a Zoom H4 Digital Recorder. Edited with Audacity music software.
No comments:
Post a Comment