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

Juan María Solare: Numbered Places (eleven piano pieces)



01 - One Way Flight to... (2:50)

02 - Twopenny Loaf [USA] (3:45)

03 - Three Bridges [UK] (2:25)

04 - Four Oaks [USA] (3:00)

05 - Five Pointz [NYC] (3:45)

06 - Six Mile Bottom [UK] (2:40)

07 - Seven Kings [UK] (5:10)

08 - Eight Streets [USA] (5:55)

09 - Nine Elms [UK] (2:50)

10 - Ten Ten Road [NC, USA] (3:25)

11 - Eleven Lands [UK] (3:30)



Totaltime: 39:15

Numbered Places * piano * music by Juan María Solare



The cycle Numbered Places startsfrom a simple idea: the piece nr. 1 would have a title that begins with theword One, the piece nr. 2 a titlethat begins with the word Two and soon up to an arbitrary number (in this case, eleven).



For everything to have more cohesion, English names of different places orregions in either USA or (mainly) UK were used.



In its own way, Numbered Placesis therefore a conceptual album - alreadyfrom the point of view of titles.



Also musically, this world of sound has cohesion: instrumental piano music,neoclassical aesthetics (a somewhat broad concept that encompasses composerssuch as Erik Satie or Ludovico Einaudi), a certain simplicity in its surface.



Let us briefly comment each of the titles:



- One WayFlight to ...: The imaginary journey starts here. Each person will completethe sentence with the destiny of their choice.

- TwopennyLoaf: This is a neighborhood (and geographically a cape) in the city ofGloucester, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA. It is believed to have gotten itsname because it is shaped like a (bread) loaf that at the time cost twopennies.

- ThreeBridges: It is a city somewhere between London and Brighton, and a nodalpoint where trains typically split. Musically, the most minimalistic of all thecycle.

- Four Oaks:There are numerous places so named, both in England and the US, and possibly inother countries. I can imagine that there were actually four oak trees planted near.

- FivePointz: Neighborhood in Queens, New York. A graffiti mecca that wasdemolished in 2014 to build expensive buildings. And yes, it is spelled with zin this case.

- Six MileBottom: Is a hamlet near Cambridge in England. The hamlet derives its namefrom its distance from the start of Newmarket Racecourse and because it lies ina valley bottom. There is no public transport. The old train station, closed in1967 for lack of use, is now a private residence.

- SevenKings: It is a neighborhood in Ilford, East London. The earliest recordeduse of the name is as Sevekyngg or Sevekyngges in 1285, possibly meaning'settlement of the family or followers of a man called Seofoca'

- EightStreets: it is a (very sought-after) neighborhood located in the heart ofthe historic South End of the city of Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

- Nine Elms:a district of South West London. Nine Elms Lane was named around the year 1645,from a row of elm trees bordering the road.

- Ten TenRoad: it is a place -actually the main road- in the town of Apex, NorthCarolina, USA.

- ElevenLands: this place is mentioned in an old legal report from around 1782 asexisting in North London ("a place called Eleven Lands, containing fiveacres of arable, formerly Cosby's, beonging to a farm in the said parish ofBletcheley...", in " Acollection of the Reports of Cases, the Statutes, and Ecclesiastical Laws,relating to Tithes", volume 3). It has certainly changed its name.Musically, this last piece has a certain tango aura.





Why eleven pieces and not more? The truth is that - incredibly as it mayseem - I didn't find any place called "Twelve" something. Yes thereare such names in other languages, but I wanted to keep some consistency. Thereare also pubs or bars called Twelvewhatever, but since they are not sponsoring my music, I had no motivation togive them free advertising at the moment.



This album was released in early 2020 on Spotify, iTunes and allother online platforms through the label BlissRecordings in London (part of frtyfve).Find your favorite service here: https://frtyfve.lnk.to/NPVol1



There are alsovideos of several pieces of this album. They are in the following playlist:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL70vQeCRYmkp3vEdIkdnjJyiU1aZ_u7HA

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

Avant-garde pianist Winfried Strauss? ?In The End We Are All Dead? is a bittersweet, melancholic piece that winds and lulls; taking the listener on a journey of reflection as keys chime and clash against the hum of a crackling vinyl.

A specialist in minimalism, the Berlin-based composer started playing piano aged 6, and recorded his first tracks on a 16-bit Atari Computer in High School. Inspired by the likes of Max Richter, Volker Bertelmann and Philip Glass, Strauss deals in juxtaposition and will often explore antithesis within his arrangements.

?In The End We Are All Dead? achieves beauty through simplicity, soaring with retrospective strings and romantic melodies underpinned by the nostalgic sounds of mellotron and celesta.