Is this a great country or what? Here in America, we get “New Music” that is only about 300 years old and simply changed western civilization. Pianist Andras Schiff takes on the man who is essentially the root of jazz (both John Lewis and Charlie Parker stole heavily from Johanne) with this collection of Books I and II of some of the most important music to fall on humanities ears. I have his collection of Bach’s English Suites from a number of years ago, and fell in love with Schiff’s touch and logic way back then. Here, he has a warm glow to his touch, and while you’ll probably know some of these pieces by heart if you ever played the piano, please keep in mind that Brad Mehldau STILL spends hours at a time mastering these things to build up his jazz chops. It’s a trip not only back in time, but a refresher course on why you should love music. A desert island collection.
ECM New Series
www.ecmrecords.com