Artist: Howard Riley
Title: Air Play
Cat Number: SLAMCD244
Year released: 2001
Format: CD & all digital platforms
Barcode: 5028386024422
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Solo performance from free jazz pianist Howard Riley, recorded at Goldsmiths College, London, 9 April 2000.
“Over the past quarter of a century I’ve become aware of many things through improvising solo. It has increased my appreciation of the piano’s capacity to be a complete musical expressive medium; it’s helped me find my best playing level; and, most important of all, it’s enabled me to evolve musically by bringing together all the experiences I’ve had (‘structured’, free’, ‘open-form’, ‘closed-form’ etc.) since I started out with bands in the late 1950’s…I feel that the whole process of recording in a studio can stifle spontaneity, so I always aim for the initial statement. Regarding this album specifically every track is a first take.” – Howard Riley, May 2001.
Howard Riley: piano
“One of the jazz world’s most immediately recognisable and unfussily virtuosic pianists. This album utilises all the musical vocabulary Riley has acquired over the past quarter-century – his trademark walking baselines under ringing, wonderfully cluttered right-hand improvisations; his delightful visits to “disguised” standards (here “Lover Man”); his tumbling runs interspersed with clanging percussiveness – to produce music of rare power and strange, pungent beauty. A genuine original at the peak of his powers.” – Chris Parker, BBC Music Magazine
“It’s a stunning performance, and one way to leave a strong impression…he’s always himself, and fans of creative music should be grateful for that.” – Stuart Kremsky, Cadence