Clemens Orth - When we crossed path
About 6 years ago i could happily terminate my first piano solo CD!
It was truely a dream come true! "here now" was a mixture of composed and improvised parts, jazz originals and some standard interpretations but all in all pretty much what i felt like doing on a solo piano album - little constuct and much intuition.
This idea is also present on my new album "when we crossed paths" . Beside standards there are originals such as "gravina" and "when we crossed paths" which sprang out of an improvisation but still show a songlike quality - blending a rhythmical idea with a medoly that develops within a relatively plain form. Coldplay´s "viva la vida" turned into a 9/8 groove with a reharmonized chord progression ending with an ecstatic blowout.
Solar was the ideal tune for a contrapuntal experiment on a 17/8 clave. The melody is fragmented and appears in different layers, colors and octaves heading towards more powerful textures and montuno patterns.
I´ve chosen a quite traditional approach for "lush life" - My love for Stride- Piano-Styles was also fueled by Sir Roland Hanna(1932-2002) with whom i studied in New York. The solo section starts with a laid back stride feel turning into a 12/8 groove and finally switching into a funky thing. The finale brings back some neoromanticism and ends with melancholic regression. "i loves you muxl" is for my beloved one. Nothing more to say - just listen!
8 Variations on "here´s that rainy day" are completely improvised. Once i got the ideas together i started recording. The titles moreorless explain themselves already but here is a little synopsis:
2 voices: the most reduced version possible ;)
invention: a more horizontal approach -
outspaced: really spaced out -
dungeon: the nightmare on its way -
reharm: a reharmonized version of the tune -
raindrops: can you hear them?
bebop: i like bebop, you too?
pianobar: the elevator jazz version -
Enjoy my new solo piano rendition and have a great listening experience! ... hope to see you in the near future!
