Odyssey

Description

This album retraces other favorite musical adventures of mine, whether it be acoustic piano trio, solo piano, or electroacoustic duo. George Marsh (drums) and Mel Graves (bass) have been my exploration companions since 1968, when I began a decade-long foray into multi-genre electroacoustic music. It was a pleasure to reunite with them in an acoustic piano trio during this 2003 concert. “It Could Happen To You” plays with metric changes, mainly shifting from 7/4 to 4/4; the piece includes a vamp conducive to improvisation and a final modulation to spice things up. “Body and Soul” begins with a freely improvised piano introduction, followed by a reharmonized and modulated melody. I love this collaborative exploration of timeless great standards. Next are three solo piano pieces dedicated to Cole Porter. After reappropriating the melodies and exploring various paths of reharmonization and approach, I let the music take over to surprise me. “I Love You” eventually took on quite a lively character, punctuated by “half-time” episodes; “Night And Day” transformed into a slow rumba; and “It Was Just One Of Those Things” became a vast exploration traversing multiple tempos. The third part of the album is dedicated to continuing our exploration in electroacoustic duo — focused on spontaneous composition — with drummer and percussionist George Marsh, an adventure that began in 2014. Our complicity, almost telepathic, has continued to evolve, just like our instrumentation. The integration of SWAM orchestral software on my side and the addition of Roland electronic drums by George have significantly enriched our “galactic” sound palette. None of these pieces were prepared in advance. On a few rare occasions, when we were short on members to play everything, we added orchestration in re-recording (layering tracks). The titles were chosen a posteriori, in an attempt to reflect, if only partially, the experience of the performance.