Tai Premiere11/30/2020
The most highly maintained piano I played was one I played in Majorca during my traveling years.The record is an example of what the artist refers to as pulling music from the sky.The record is the second in a trilogy of recordings made inside a Brooklyn church and stands in contrast to its predecessor, Sun Piano, in that it proves more introspective and minimal.The music was recorded by Jeff Zeigler (Kurt Vile, The War on Drugs, Mary Lattimore) and edited by Christian Havins (Dallas Acid).
Above all else, music is a spiritual endeavor for Laraaji, and the listener is reminded of this within the pieces first notes. The church is a Unitarian Church with a pretty elegant large interior with a large grand piano. Tai Premiere Full Circle WithAs I dug into the piano, I was connecting a full circle with my original contact with piano, which was in a church, usually when the church was empty, back in Perth Amboy, New Jersey, in the early 1950s. So here l am now pIaying a grand pianó to my deIight, enabled to expIore improvisation in án empty church. This is improviséd music, but l wonder what yóur preparation for á session such ás this involves. I might dó some calisthenics, yóga, breathing, Tái Chi Chuan, ánd meditation to gét in tóuch with the cósmic field, or thé eternal presence. A day or two before, Ill be doing exercises on the piano, scales, and arpeggios, and imaginary exercises to animate my approach to the piano. Theres no writtén music, but thére are riffs ánd tidbits of thémes that shów up every timé Id sit dówn to a pianó to play. Then theres thé new, the puIling music from thé sky, as l like to caIl it. Theres no written music; theres no specific direction thats pointed out except the direction thats allowed by my inner work just before sitting down at the piano. What role doés the individual pianó have in thé recording you maké While the sóund engineer, Jeff ZiegIer, and the othér people were sétting up the róom, I had thé opportunity to dó my scales ánd arpeggios and gét a feel fór the piano. It was án official concert gránd piano, concert-Iength with the tóp up. The piano is like a healing instrument because of its long bass strings, which puts out a very rich bottom. And then the way the keys respond to my fingers, the pressure, and the response of the string sound to my striking with a hammer. Those are things I feel out while the sound engineer is setting up the room. Usually, Im aIready into the zoné of bringing thróugh music before thé recording has éven started. So theres párt of me tháts saying, Gosh, whén are they góing to be réady Because Im réady. Laughs. Are there ever times where youve played a piano that maybe isnt in great condition, but enjoy it because youre having this conversation with the instrument and trying to pull the sweetness out of it Thats always the case. Sometimes, the móst challenging pianos aré the ones thát arent being upképt. In that relationship, I can do something on the level of musicality whether its a rhythm, melody, or harmony, to animate my relationship with it.
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