Refractions
About solo piano CD release by guest writer Neil Pearlman
Delighted to offer this very timely guest post by my son Neil Pearlman, an internationally renowned pianist whose solo piano CD just came out. We heard the release concert a few days ago, and it was not only gorgeous music, but a fun event, including his “last call” — this is an event he created where audience members write tune suggestions on slips of paper, drop them into a vase, and at the end of the show, Neil picks several tune titles out of the vase to create a spontaneous medley with masterful improvisation!
Below is some background info and links to his new album, as well as a couple of videos of selections from it, and a list of the upcoming concerts with info links. His first Scottish concert will be in the west Highlands, not far from where some of Neil’s ancestors lived — they were clan chiefs of the MacLeans who lived for at least 600 years in the Isle of Mull, and built Duart Castle in the 1300s. In fact, we figure he’s probably even a distant cousin of the host of that first concert, Gaelic singer Mary Anne Kennedy!
—Ed
Hello everyone,
I'm happy to be doing another guest post on Substack here to pop in and let you know that my solo piano album Refractions is now released as of Friday, May 5th! I've been on the road with a bunch of solo piano concerts to support the album already and have several more coming up in Boston, Washington DC, and all across Scotland over the next few weeks. I've also released a few live recorded videos of pieces from the album. More information and links to all of that is below!
The album is a collection of improvisations and interpretations of Scottish Gaelic melodies that I recorded on a beautiful Yamaha grand piano in Simpson Street Studios located in rural Northumberland, England. One of the videos below was recorded in that space on that same piano. Growing up playing Scottish music in the home and Jazz piano in school and with my friends I felt that this debut solo piano album just felt best if it was based on beautiful old traditional melodies that I have "refracted" through the lens of my creativity and the piano, which is not the instrument these melodies originally developed on.
I've been playing the occasional piano solo as a momentary break in larger shows for years but presenting a full show or album of solo piano took a while for me to consider. As a musician I'm very inspired by musical conversations — that's part of why I started my TradCafe podcast, where I chat and play music spontaneously with a different featured musical guest each episode. So presenting an entire show that is focused on just my musical voice is quite a different experience and one I approached carefully. Eventually I tested the waters with a weekend of solo piano shows and once I survived that experience and discovered it was actually kind of fun and inspiring, I began presenting a solo show occasionally when my schedule allowed.
With the Covid-19 lockdowns, I had a lot of time to work on some of my own music that had been on the back burner for so long, and began to think seriously about going into a studio with a nice piano and recording a full solo record. I had discovered Simpson Street Studios and worked with engineer Ian Stephenson in 2019 when I recorded there with Kevin Henderson for our duo album Burden Lake, and between the gorgeous piano, beautiful room and Ian's masterful use of microphones, that album achieved the best piano tone of any of my project so far, so I decided to go back there to do my solo record.
It was an amazing experience, very intense, challenging and rewarding. I learned a great deal about myself as a musician and about all the ways that recording solo is different from recording in groups. I'm so thankful to Ian for lending his expert ear to the project and helping me achieve something that I'm very proud of. I'm also really excited about how the album art came together, working with the great photographer and videographer Dylan Ladds to take the photos and craft them into the finished product. So often the photographs and graphic design are done by different people, so it was a luxury to be able to work from the start to finish with one artist to realize a coherent vision.
I hope you will check out the album and videos linked below. There's more information in the liner notes about the sources and inspirations for my interpretation of each melody. You can get the album in digital and physical formats on bandcamp (links below) and it's also available to stream on all the major platforms. Enjoy the music!
-Neil
Click here to listen to, download, or purchase the album
Click here for streaming links
See below for CD Release tour details & links! Enjoy!
Upcoming Album Release Concerts:
Wed 10 May, West Newton, MA - Scandinavian Cultural Center, 7:30pm Solo Piano Refractions album release. Ticket details
Thur 11 May, Washington, DC - House Concert Solo Piano, email pearlmanster@gmail.com for details
14 May, Fort William, Scotland - Watercolour Music Solo Piano, email mak@watercolourmusic.co.uk
15-16 May, Daliburgh, South Uist, Scotland - Cnoc Soilleir Teaching workshops on 5/15, Solo Piano concert on 5/16.
18 May, Plockton, Scotland - Plockton High School, Solo Piano Concert for the Plockton Piano Club
19 May, Edinburgh, Scotland - Pianodrome, 7pm, Solo Piano, Split bill with Simon Thoumire & Dave Milligan. Click for info & tickets
20 May, Dundee, Scotland - Maryat Hall, 7:30pm, Solo Piano, Split bill with Simon Thoumire & Dave Milligan, Click for Tickets
21 May, Newtyle, Scotland - Hatton Castle, 5pm, Solo Piano, Split bill with Simon Thoumire & Dave Milligan, email pearlmanster@gmail.com for details.
22 May, Aberdeen, Scotland - The Blue Lamp, 7:30pm, Solo Piano, Split bill with Simon Thoumire & Dave Milligan, Click for Ticket info
23 May, Glasgow, Scotland - Tea and a Tune, 7pm, Solo Piano at Tchai-Ovna House of Tea (limited capacity!)
24 May, Thropton, Northumberland, England - Coquetdale Music Trust, 7:30pm, Solo Piano Concert where the album was recorded! Click for Info
 |
|