“Solo Vol. 1” Liner Notes

My new record, Solo Vol. 1 is released today. Here are the album's liner notes:

The piano is awe-inspiring.

On one hand, it is a mere simple machine: Levers activated by a key strike pitched wires; the pianist manipulates the levers to control the timing and volume of each pitch. That's it. The pianist can't control a note's decay, which is at the mercy of physics. And no matter what we might think we're hearing, the pianist can't literally change the instrument's fundamental tone. In the end, it's just wires and levers.

But this simple machine is capable of producing the energy of an entire band, or of an entire orchestra. It is capable of silencing a crowded club, or moving a packed concert hall to tears. It is capable of singing the most tender melodies just as readily as it can roar the most thunderous chaos. It is capable of producing music that has defined generations. And in the right hands, it becomes a vehicle for transcendent creative expression.

Still today, hundreds of years after its invention, and in the face of astounding technological advancements, the piano has maintained a certain universal appeal. Perhaps this is because no other instrument can so completely satisfy our innate musical curiosity. The full spectrum of rhythm, dynamics, harmony, melody, drama, and storytelling can all be directly accessed at the piano in plain sight, no electricity or internet connection required.

It is in this spirit that I present the following music to you. To be sure, this is a solo piano record of jazz standards. But style and genre aside, it is a pianist at a piano, this timeless instrument with all of its possibilities and wonders, attempting to move an audience. It will be a success if I've shared even a fraction of the joy and awe I experience in the face of these wires and levers.

-Glenn
Brooklyn, 2017

Solo Vol. 1 is available as a free download exclusively from right here.