Very cool! I love the quick phrases with the angular ascending chords and halting, stabbing bass line. I also enjoy the interplay of the right/left hand in this composition - maybe because there is such clear definition between the voices? There are some great moments when the two voices play in octaves with varied accents and rhythms.

The only salsa I know comes with cilantro, so this sounds more jazz to me than latin - though I can hear what I would call a Cuban influence that becomes progressively stronger as the song progresses.

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Thanks for noticing the interplay of left and right hands. I had a great time bouncing between octaves and pounding the bass notes, Ivory has some great lower keyboard note samples. You're right about this not being authentic salsa, that's why I called it "New Age Salsa" - really more jazz, altho I try to tend toward a salsa influence as I move thru the piece. But I never would have written it if I hadn't have had the salsa style ending in my ears, which is actually where I started the writing. Thanks for your careful and caring ears.

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Speaking of Cuban influences, check out Chucho Valdez. He's a Cuban Jazz Pianist whom I think you'll really appreciate.

Great piece. Wish I could play like that. Perhaps if I lock myself away...

---
Here's my <a href="http://www.macjams.com/song/22184">last song posted</a> and <a href="http://www.macjams.com/song/17267">the one before it</a>.

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your musical inspiration seems to find always, such an interesting expression. This time on this piano romp through... in and out of your dream. Tons of fun in listening to your fingers dance across the keyboard. Good one Mr. Tobin.

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I'm trying to imagine how you pulled this one off. Playing this stuff must have been incredibly challenging to coordinate your hands around.
It's just stunning how you have arranged this one, and also probably more stunning is how you have performed it.

It's way over my head, and even not something I would enjoy having on my stereo one romantic night;) But it must be quite enjoyable performing it... at least when you have the ability to play it like you do Tobin.

I especially enjoyed the child-friendly melody style near the end. Guess it must be 'cause I'm kind of childish:)

When the final salsa is to be put together, keep in mind that the claves is one of the most important perc instrument used... and of course.. I have a set of those waiting to be used;)

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Monkish for sure, but damn if I don't hear some Keith Jarrett in there too. And that ending, icing on the cake. As I said, Niccccccccccceeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

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...Well thought out

...and still tons of fun!!!

Thanks for sharing this.

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i chose the piano genre to hear your music, hit play, and took a deliciously unexpected journey with ears and eyes wide open to hear/see what would happen next. clear, crisp, confident, seemingly straight forward piano until the kinky harmony began to revealed itself at ~ :26. cool spots for me were :54, 1:26 - wonderful left hand sweep up. the part that delighted me most was at 2:00 - a hint of how crazy you might go lashing rhythms together. i just loved it! i didn't get the salsa flavor til end, but you reminded me slowly but very surely there. how do you mic your work? this didn't come out of a little machine, did it? it's so beautiful in its rich sound. bravo - anne


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I have struggled with mic'ing a piano thru the years, always a disappointing venture. I have been using a software plug-in this past year, Ivory by Synthogy. This project uses the Bosendorfer patch, slightly altered. My 2005 project (Morning Whispers, see Simig Records for more background on that recording) used the Steinway patch. If you search Ivory you'll hear some great examples of what the software can do. I like the in your face lack of reverb for this project, as if the mic is right in the body of the grand; it adds to the crazy elements of the music. Thanks for your comments

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by the way - graphics are excellent! - esp. the one above for this piece. a

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...it's almost a supernatural piano sound...

I've heard even really nice pianos have a certain breaking up and 'beating' quality, especially in the low notes, when played, especially played hard, and this is just note-perfect... It's like the dream of piano players... sell your soul to the devil at the crossroads, and he gives you a piano that plays in tune on every note and combination of notes....

That's sound... It really does stand out on your (and Paul Page's) recent recordings...

And then we move into territory where I really don't have the vocabulary for what I'm hearing, except to say that the left and right hand stuff is like the musical analog of the 'tuned piano' thing that I'm hearing... playfully disparate elements coming together in a whole that manages to be one piece...

It really is almost fearfully intelligent...

Honestly, I don't hear a lot of salsa in this, but I do get this image of someone doing a salsa-like dance, with their top and bottom halves dancing to different parts of the rhythm... there's a unified dance happening with two discrete motions... Quite something....

Ed

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Wow, way cool comments, Ed. Thanks. A body on the edge of tearing apart, starting one way and ending another, yet traveling a single road (even if going two ways at once); this is what I am going for on many of these Chaos tracks. Bubbling surreal-unconscious-insainty, under the surface, trying to be used in an artistic way. I'm thrilled with how you've characterized it. Thanks. Check out the webpage to hear the other drafts: 13 Masks.

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Jazz always has that mystic when you hear what is not there and more than is there. This sure has it Going On.



(thought the Kit was a little back in the Mx, though).



Command of Styles and Influences at work here is stunningly fluent and joyful.



What a Work-Out!



Highest Regards,

Cooper

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with this playful track....so much music from the ivory...from the mind...the soul.....i can hear such things as stride piano...monkish musings....bernstein snippits....and all sorts of musical thoughts.....outstanding pianistic whirlwind.....deeply honored...!

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McBoy, you are the Zorro of Macjams. The masked man with the lightning guitar. And huge heart. Your comments mean a lot to me. Thank you for being the sort of person who not only deserves tributes, but is humbled by them. A role model and wonderful dreammate.

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The rest of us can just sit back and watch this wonderful tribute unfold. It's like watching two Jedi masters wield and wave their laser swords in combat and the Padawans are just breathlessly taking pointers on the side. Tobin, needless to say, you are held in exalted status here for your masterful command of instruments and incredible musical sense. Your range of mastery (from Artsy to Zingy, if there is such a genre) is incredible, which is why we rely on your critiques to make us better musicians, even if sometimes they are bitter pills to swallow. Your honesty is also as amazing as your humility. To say that you do music well is like saying Jordan can bounce the ball well. It is way way beyond that. You move in the circles of great virtuosos and untouchable classical musicians. You strike the piano keys like McBoy does his guitar strings! Awesome, awesome... If there is a button that will auto-fav every song that you and Mcboy post, I will have that turned on!

One more thing.. your song art is a reflection of your level of craft music. They are a huge visual delight! Darn, is there anything you don't do well? Do you dance like Justin Timberlake, too? I know McBoy is an part-time GQ model based on his picture, so he's probably got one over you. He-he!

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Thank you for your wonderful comments. I truly appreciate them, very much.

As for dancing, I actually won several dance contests in my youth and have choreographed many dance numbers thru the years as a stage director, altho I truly was faking it the whole while. Indeed, I am no dancer. But I was a model in my 20s, they liked having actors on hand who could play characters for the camera, until the agency got so many complaints about my skinny wrists that they dropped me.

As for McBoys unmatched sexy looks, all I can say is I, too, am a McBoy fan.

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Excellent jazzy piano. Love the percussive feel to it.

I really like the artwork too. Where did you find those images? Or are they original images by someone. If so, who?

Odd, about dreams, isn't it? I've had a couple of songs given to me in dreams. Paintings and poetry too. Gifts from the gods, I call them.

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As the weather takes a turn in the Northeast, listening to this brings thoughts of being some place else sitting around relaxing and sipping a rum punch.

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Very interesting arangement. I like how you played this. I don't know any musical terms for what you did here, just that it sounds really cool!

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I really liked the composition and the gusto with which you performed it. I could feel your joy coming off the keyboards. THRILLING!
-Bowman

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in our midst... I'm glad people can see/hear who you are Tobin.. and that they respond in kind... One of the greatest things about MJ is the provision of a forum that is not driven by comercial viability... and when I hear your work I muse on the forms and structures that I adhere to... I couldn't come close to your ability... You are obviously trained, but what you bring to the table is so far past training... there is a mingling of intelligence, playful spirit, seeker, and an old soul co-habitating with a young soul... all firing out through 10 fingers...

anyway... you show me that music can be so much more

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Thank you so much for the generous comments. (Once I finish this piano project, I will dive headlong into the collaboration we have begun, The Chimney). The goal of creating music without regard to commercial viability is definitely one of the things I love about MJ, but is also a goal (or a release of a goal) at this stage of my own career, and a very liberating one. Thanks for mentioning it. It is a cornerstone of this whole piano project; one of the reasons commissions can be so important. Your artistic and spiritual friendship is also one of those things MJ has brought to my doorstep, for which I am also grateful.

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...you've obviously been "around the block" more than a few times.

I LOVE this piece. (listening to it as I type, on the headphones). Could go over all the reasons...but it's just so, so cool. I'm looking forward to checking out lots more of your stuff.

BTW: I'm not a serious pianist; but I noticed you mentioned having problems micing your acoustic piano. I've got a friend who's a fine player and he swears by his Schertler DYN-G (?) pickup for his grand. Ever tried?

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So THIS is what the pros play when they're 'just messing around on the keyboards.' I'll add a bit of Copland to the 'sounds like' list. Some very 'El Salon Mexico' moments in there. Playful and fun. To be honest, I was wondering how it was going to develop at the beginning of my listen- but it had a great ending!

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I dig this and your cover is really cool! I love the 13 faces! This should be a cool compilation of piano tracks! Are you really playing the piano? Sorry had to ask.

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That's what your music is to me. I'm amazed at how your musical mind works, how different it is from my own. I don't understand how you do what you do.

This song was a tough listen for me. I wanted so much to grab hold of it and make sense of it but every time I was about to catch its tail, you zagged. Therein lies my problem. I am driven to conquer chaos by making it take form, like a butterfly pinned to a board I suppose. Your tune would not be controlled.

I admire this ability you have to be free. I suppose that's jazz right? I sould learn jazz but I don't know if I could feel jazz like you do. Songs like this don't come from the brain.

Amazing work Tobin. Beautiful AND disruptive, certainly a tricky combo. There was a riff you played mid way through (octaves) that I just loved and wished would grow in to a whole tune - it was such a great hook. I will download and listen to this tune as a learning tool - a musical lesson from one of the best teachers around.

Thanks.



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Thanks for your honesty. I have been thinking a lot about the non-conscious aspect of mind this past year, due to this project as well as a fiction work, Book of Dreams, I have begun writing. As rational Age of Reason children, we have become very separated from that, perhaps much larger, well of untamable mind, called the unconscious (for lack of better terminology). Unconscious mind is, by definition, uncontrolled, like our dreams. But it is not "other-than-self;" indeed, it may be more ourself than our conscious mind (due to its inherent independence). We can train our conscious mind, like a parrot, but what comes out is mostly rearranged clip art. I have always delved into my mind-space (it used to look like a large stage-theater) to work out plot problems, narrative dead ends, a place to let my half-dreaming mind explore, without conscious interruption, ideas. I have let go even more in recent months, and it is both artistically exciting and emotionally enjoyable for me. As a middle aged guy, I want to say something unique, so I am trying to give my unconscious more leeway, more say. Life is too short for more clip art, more mental loops.

As for the flashes of melodies and hooks that fly by, that seem to go undeveloped... I agree, that happens, and I hear them go by too, like a face in a subway window you are suddenly desiring but flashes away without true connection. When attending colleagues' jazz performances, this happens all the time. All I can say is that, for me, as an audience at that moment, I think "he didn't develop that amazing moment. I have to remember it, maybe develop it myself," and it becomes a gift. As the perpetrator of a few such moments, I think what happens is the overall arc of the piece is always of greater importance, and those moments make me smile, but they are intersections of another journey, not the focus of this one. One of my rules for this project is to not employ normal rules, to play only what satisfy (me). Thanks for giving it many listens, by the way. I appreciate that a great deal.

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It's got a good energy. Ready for horns! Very exciting!

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Your knowledge of jazz theory is remarkable, Tobin, and that's only the beginning. Your knowledge is only one of your tools. Your freedom, playfulness, trust, ability to let go, and most of all, your instincts, built from a lifetime of devotion to art... these all work together so well here.

Like others, I hear a host of influences, but the influences are the just the spices you've used to flavor this magnificent feast you've cooked up, and I am very pleased to sit at your table and dine on your wonderful composition.

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You're like some piano-wielding Les Claypool. lol

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ok you hit hard!
I like your composition. Very interesting.
You should consider adding drums and bass ala Chic Corea
just my 2 cents

Regards
MB




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Sorry to be so late chiming in, but wow, am I glad I heard this. It just sounds like a huge amount of fun to play and listen to. It begins in a deceptively simple but engaging way, then becomes gradually more complex. It begins with 3 antecedent phrases followed by a consequent phrases that really knocks your socks off, then the 4 phrases are repeated with virtuosic varitations... uh, this is playable, right? :-)

This is first-class stuff. 10-10-10-10

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you play your ass off



deepest bows

z

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this is such calming piece of music without having to sound deliberately heavy. i love the brightness, encouraging and even reassuring side of it. this sounds modern and stylistic projecting a massive light of hope. this kind of music makes what human life more hopeful. if this was played in a cafe, concert hall or even in a morning tv show or radio i'd feel greatly energised for the day!

thank you!

ps: that cd cover looks so nice. i noticed that you are also into thematic things such as solar systems, modes and anything that has a spectrum, that can establish some sort of tonal relationship. i really find that exciting, cause it manages to result in something very atmospheric.

please carry on ! thanks for sharing this piece

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Thanks for the poetic comments. Yes, I love drawing inspiration from and creating perimeters (sometimes merely metaphorical ones) with visual and philosophical ideas. I am drawn to your work, which is full of explorations, thematically and harmonically and texturally, and urge everyone to check out the inventive and varied tracks you've posted on Macjams.

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if Thelonius Monk was also fan of Chico Marx (the playful high note accents near the end).
Excellent song, performance and production, Tobin.

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I too loved Chico Marx!

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Tobin,
You do some amazing things with this comp. Many comments from other listerners that I am in total agreement with. You are one talented pianist! ... thanks for the explanation of the Ivory plug-in. You came up with the perfect sound for this style of writing: kind of crisp and dry. Wow.
Paul

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Thanks. I love having you on Macjams. Your piano playing is masterful and your mind flows with beautiful melodies and a deep sense of meaningful peace and magical balance. I encourage everyone to check out your piano pieces posted here. Thank you for your gracious comments.

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what beautiful variations and what talent with the keyboard! I love this melody and is a keeper for sure! To my ears, this is what piano is all about. The syncopated ryhtm add to he tune...thank you for sharing!

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Thank you for the kind words. I'd like to echo what I said about Paul Page above. Your piano music, too, is a breath of beauty, refinements of Chopin era romanticism and a thrill to have on Macjams. I urge everyone to visit your music and bathe in the lyrical expression you share thru your magnificent piano playing.

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I'm impressed by many things after having heard all the album .
The choice of the sound is very interesting , it makes this music sound a bit more dry than with an acoustic piano , I think it fits very well with the overall mood , it gives a high-tech/SF/future impression.

Harmonies and rythms are very rich and there is a great number of ideas and changes .

The playing is impressive too with energy and expression all along .
The piano solo is like being naked , nothing to help the player , no way to hide , it's an experience of the truth .
You did a fantastic job .


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Wow, what a great compliment. Thank you. It is what I'm always trying to include in all my music. Very nice of you to mention this.

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