Connie Crothers, solo piano
Tracklist: 1. Be 2. Lover Man 3. Sonance 4. Ontology 5. Dig You 6. Star Eyes 7. Say It 8. Etude For The Spirit 9. Béla Bartók, Buciumeana, from Roumanian Folk Dances/improvisation 10. Little Sweet One 11. Good Morning, Heartache 12. How High the Moon 13. Precious Life
Recording Dates: 1993-1996
While one would expect her own compositions to be freeform vehicles, I was surprised and impressed by the way Crothers approached the standards. Songs such as “Lover Man”, “Star Eyes”, and “How High the Moon” are played with such originality that the melody lines are fully submerged under her interpretive direction. She projects the essence of the songs without ever having to make an overt statement on the theme. Only on the opening segment of “Good Morning Heartache” does even the slightest hint of the theme surface. This subtlety indicates an ability to hear far beyond the superficial level of melody. Crothers makes heavy use of the lower end of the register in probing the labyrinth she designs inside the songs. Her right hand adds the sparkling relief, but the most meaningful statements are derived from the bottom end of the sound spectrum. The tunes are the essence of full-bodied articulation, and her exploratory endeavor results in substantive music with power framed in a veil of tenderness. — Frank Rubolino, onefinalnote.com, September 2001.
CD version (incl. shipment cost world-wide)
MP3 version (80.82MB zip download)
an extraordinarily original solo piano tour-de-force by one of the great geniuses of all time! you will love it; and it will deepen your appreciation of ‘everyday life’!