Contains:
"Waiting"
- taken from the Isadar solo piano collections, "Active Imagination / Reconstructed" (also available on SMP)

Sounds like: Keith Jarrett, Bill Evans, Vince Guaraldi, Liz Story, George Winston, early Windham Hill solo piano artists

Transcribed by: David Shenton ( https://www.shentonmusic.com/ ) verbatim to the sound recording

Note: A slightly different version of this composition is also heard on the Isadar album, "Reconstructed" (Produced by Will Ackerman)

Album & Songbook Review by: Kathy Parsons

I love this CD! It constantly amazes me how many outstanding composer/pianists there are out there - especially in relation to the few who are highly (commercially) successful within this broad genre. I would say that Active Imagination definitely belongs near the top of the heap. Isadar?s style is original, and his pianism is excellent. He lists his inspirations as Liz Story, Keith Jarrett, and Bill Evans, and I can hear traces of all three in his playing, but find his composing and playing styles to be uniquely his own.

The first three tracks are lively and upbeat (?Active Imagination?, ?Throwing the Dice?, and ?Where the Wild Things Are?) with an easy, jazzy, improvised feel. The meter changes are fascinating, and the bluesy beat on ?Wild Things? is infectious.

From there, the mood seems to gradually darken and become more introspective. ?Waiting? is a beautiful, flowing mood piece full of questions and a lovely melody line. Isadar?s cover of Liz Story?s ?Wedding Rain? is wonderful - this is a piece I often work on with my advanced students, and everything about Isadar?s interpretation of the piece seems right without being a carbon-copy of Liz?s recording.

?Feu Follet (the ?spook? light?)? has a nice, easy flow with a strong sense of mystery; it also has an unusual rhythm that lightens the mood and adds a bounce. ?Uncertainty? is cooler and more aloof, but gorgeous in its flowing introspection - that it ends with a major chord, feels like the soul-searching has had positive results. ?Love Chaconne? is the closing track, and is the longest and most abstract piece on the CD. The left hand plays a repeated pattern while the right hand goes off in several different directions (one of the primary characteristics of a ?chaconne?). Beautiful in its simplicity, this is the only track that seems to contain an element of pain and sorrow, but never dissolves into melodrama.

Active Imagination is excellent from start to finish and I highly recommend it to anyone who likes solo piano with substance and complexity, but is still accessible, melodic, and rhythmic. Bravo amundo!

Active Imagination Sheet Music Collection is the companion songbook to Isadar?s 1999 CD release, Active Imagination. The CD was one of my favorites for the year when I reviewed it for the print version of ?Wind and Wire? magazine, so I was really looking forward to the sheet music! Transcribed note-for-note by David Shenton of ShentonMusic.com (I proofed about half of the book, so I can attest to how accurate it is!), it is up to you to make the music sound as close to the CD as you want or to interpret the music and make your own statements with it.

One thing that really stands out about this collection is how much FUN it is to play. The rhythms are interesting and catchy, and the mood in several of the songs is playful and upbeat. This is especially true with the title song, ?Throwing the Dice,? ?Where the Wild Things Are,? and ?Feu Follet (the ?spook? light).? ?Waiting,? ?Love Chaconne,? and ?Uncertainty? are slower, more introspective, and a bit moody, making this a sheet music collection that contains a variety of moods and styles. The only piece missing from the book is Liz Story?s ?Wedding Rain,? but the sheet music for that song is available in some of Ms. Story?s own collections.

Early-advanced players should have no trouble with this music. The timing on some of the songs is a little bit tricky, but if you count it as you are learning it, it will fall into place.

If you haven?t heard the CD, check it out, too! This book is available here from SMP, isadar.com and amazon.com. Highly recommended!

Isadar is an artist on both Enlightened Piano Radio & Whisperings Solo Piano Radio, the latter featuring some of today's biggest names in solo piano music, including Ludovico Einaudi, David Nevue, Brian Crain, Kevin Kern, Robin Spielberg, Michele McLaughlin, Philip Wesley and over 300 more...

Also available as sheet music in physical songbooks, digital downloads, as well as software for Yamaha Disklavier player-pianos.

For more information, visit his website at: http://www.isadar.com

?Évocations? is a suite for Piano solo, impressionistic, contemplative much in the trail of Satie, Debussy or Mompou. Intimist and suitable for aesthetic pleasure. This is a series of works that will lead you into an exotic journey to far away places. Just letyourself be drift away to a better place where the sounds will healyour soul.

These Evocations range all degrees of difficulty, from very easy to more challenging ones. Therefore, are suitable for the classrom, recitals or family gatherings and parties.

Evocation I ? The Harvest

The harvest in Alentejo, Portugal, occurs when the fields become tanned and a soft, warm wind coming from the south blows. It is the time of the year when you grab your hat made of straw and you let yourself be sunk ina sea of rye.

Evocation II ? The Sepia photograph

Memories. They can be happy, bittersweet or painful... Sometimes nostalgia gets the better out of us. And then we are dragged into the past, into a suspended, slow and hypnotic time. Old sepia colored pictures in a drawer orscattered around our bed.

Evocation III ? The dead soldier

The battle is over. Amournful wife, the weeping children. An everlasting pain shutteringour heart. And the hope that wherever he is, he is in peace now. And we are all proud of him. Thank you for serving our country.

Evocation IV ? The composer

The tragedy of the blank page. An everlasting winter in our soul. Snow is falling, thepath is difficult to trail. Being an artist involves an incommensurable amount of suffering because we have to give it all. And even giving it all it isn't enough, and we feel drained and exhausted in the end.

Evocation V ? The Glowing Sun

The blond hair and the most radiant smile one could ever imagine. She is a glowing sun, like an everlasting shine in the sky. She doesn't walk, she floats with extreme elegance across the street, and in the corner, she doesn't turn ? she spins and swirls with heavenly grace.

Evocation VI ? The Far

Longing. Eternally. I hope you've read my letters. I hope you've heard my calls. I opened my heart to you. Why do you take so long? Why can't I hear your voice? Why do you keep me waiting here. Here, so close, yet... so far... alone... forever...

Evocation VII ? The Queen of Spades

The dark lady is the strongest in the deck. Mystical, fantastic, she wanders like a shadow in your world. Across the garden, carrying a sickle, she's just waiting to chop a head on the next turn.

Evocation VIII ? The Poem

A book, a sonnet. Fourteen verses with rigorous metric, with a defined purpose. A parlor game, a riddle. Can you guess what's hidden inside these wondrous sounds?

Evocation IX ? The Thinker

A desk loaded with books. The glasses. A mind always working, methodic, cold, rigorous. Numbers, hidden relationships, an everlasting connection with the abstraction.

Evocation X ? The Island of the Hydrangeas.

A paradise on earth, smooth rain, narrow and sinuous roads. Walking, then biking, then driving around. An adventure in one of the most beautiful places in the world.

Evocation XI ? The Near

When you're here everything will be beautiful. I can see it already in my head, the endless, passionate love, a tender sweet kiss that will last forever. Your lips on mine, while holding hands, in the bench, in the garden, under the tree. You are the one.

Evocation XII ?Saffron rice

The rice is golden like your hair and your class. The sweet taste of nobility, the craft ofwisdom, the delicacy of experience. Maturity is what time brings, it is not a curse, it is a gift that we should embrace and respect.

Contains:
"Throwing The Dice"
- taken from the Isadar solo piano collections, "Active Imagination / Reconstructed" (also available on SMP)

Sounds like: Liz Story's ("Things With Wings"), Philip Aaberg, George Winston, early Windham Hill solo piano artists

Transcribed by: David Shenton ( https://www.shentonmusic.com/ ) verbatim to the sound recording

Note: A slightly different version of this composition is also heard on the Isadar album, "Reconstructed" (Produced by Will Ackerman)

Album & Songbook Review by: Kathy Parsons

I love this CD! It constantly amazes me how many outstanding composer/pianists there are out there - especially in relation to the few who are highly (commercially) successful within this broad genre. I would say that Active Imagination definitely belongs near the top of the heap. Isadar?s style is original, and his pianism is excellent. He lists his inspirations as Liz Story, Keith Jarrett, and Bill Evans, and I can hear traces of all three in his playing, but find his composing and playing styles to be uniquely his own.

The first three tracks are lively and upbeat (?Active Imagination?, ?Throwing the Dice?, and ?Where the Wild Things Are?) with an easy, jazzy, improvised feel. The meter changes are fascinating, and the bluesy beat on ?Wild Things? is infectious.

From there, the mood seems to gradually darken and become more introspective. ?Waiting? is a beautiful, flowing mood piece full of questions and a lovely melody line. Isadar?s cover of Liz Story?s ?Wedding Rain? is wonderful - this is a piece I often work on with my advanced students, and everything about Isadar?s interpretation of the piece seems right without being a carbon-copy of Liz?s recording.

?Feu Follet (the ?spook? light?)? has a nice, easy flow with a strong sense of mystery; it also has an unusual rhythm that lightens the mood and adds a bounce. ?Uncertainty? is cooler and more aloof, but gorgeous in its flowing introspection - that it ends with a major chord, feels like the soul-searching has had positive results. ?Love Chaconne? is the closing track, and is the longest and most abstract piece on the CD. The left hand plays a repeated pattern while the right hand goes off in several different directions (one of the primary characteristics of a ?chaconne?). Beautiful in its simplicity, this is the only track that seems to contain an element of pain and sorrow, but never dissolves into melodrama.

Active Imagination is excellent from start to finish and I highly recommend it to anyone who likes solo piano with substance and complexity, but is still accessible, melodic, and rhythmic. Bravo amundo!

Active Imagination Sheet Music Collection is the companion songbook to Isadar?s 1999 CD release, Active Imagination. The CD was one of my favorites for the year when I reviewed it for the print version of ?Wind and Wire? magazine, so I was really looking forward to the sheet music! Transcribed note-for-note by David Shenton of ShentonMusic.com (I proofed about half of the book, so I can attest to how accurate it is!), it is up to you to make the music sound as close to the CD as you want or to interpret the music and make your own statements with it.

One thing that really stands out about this collection is how much FUN it is to play. The rhythms are interesting and catchy, and the mood in several of the songs is playful and upbeat. This is especially true with the title song, ?Throwing the Dice,? ?Where the Wild Things Are,? and ?Feu Follet (the ?spook? light).? ?Waiting,? ?Love Chaconne,? and ?Uncertainty? are slower, more introspective, and a bit moody, making this a sheet music collection that contains a variety of moods and styles. The only piece missing from the book is Liz Story?s ?Wedding Rain,? but the sheet music for that song is available in some of Ms. Story?s own collections.

Early-advanced players should have no trouble with this music. The timing on some of the songs is a little bit tricky, but if you count it as you are learning it, it will fall into place.

If you haven?t heard the CD, check it out, too! This book is available here from SMP, isadar.com and amazon.com. Highly recommended!

Isadar is an artist on both Enlightened Piano Radio & Whisperings Solo Piano Radio, the latter featuring some of today's biggest names in solo piano music, including Ludovico Einaudi, David Nevue, Brian Crain, Kevin Kern, Robin Spielberg, Michele McLaughlin, Philip Wesley and over 300 more...

Also available as sheet music in physical songbooks, digital downloads, as well as software for Yamaha Disklavier player-pianos.

For more information, visit his website at: http://www.isadar.com