Gregory Rogove - Piana
(CD/LP/Digital) Knitting Factory Records, 2012-01-31
Claude Debussy is a major inspiration for musicians of every faith in popular music. Debussy's seeds can be found in bossa nova, pop or contemporary jazz music from
Antonio Carlos Jobim to
Ryuchi Sakamoto, from
Chilly Gonzales to
Joe Henry just to name a few. And now young and talented multi-instrumentalist
Gregory Rogove (
Megapuss,
Priestbird,
Devendra Banhart) join this growing number of disciples.
Piana (the female for piano?) is a moving collection of mere compositions for piano solo in the manner of the french masters -
Debussy, but also the most eccentric pianist of all,
Erik Satie. It's brilliant, often melancholic, sometimes funny, and it reminds us of the music played live over the silent movies in early cinema.
John Medeski (of
Medeski Martin & Wood) is the one and only guest musician on the record, but do not expect sick and mean hammond grooves à la
MMW this time. John plays only the piano, and it's an amazing opportunity to hear him as we've never heard him before (except maybe on
Marian McPartland's show). But why on earth did
Gregory Rogove ask
John Medeski to play on his record when he could have performed his own music? Yes, why?
"I asked John Medeski to perform the pieces for a number of reasons. First of all, he is a master performer with a very intimate knowledge of the instrument - something that I am not. Secondly, I thought that it would be interesting to capture the subterranean intensity of having a virtuosic improviser perform simple, composed pieces. Lastly, he's kinda cute" Greg said. The CD comes with a DVD featuring convincing remixes from
The Bees,
Billy Martin and
Devendra Banhart among others.
Recent comments
Birdy said:
I get the feeling you weren't being too complimentary about that mashup......
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Djouls said:
I totally agree. This is a 15-year old trend, and now artists are touring covering their own cult albums!...
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Mr Moo said:
Karl Denson just did a tour covering the same LP : http://www.jambands.com/news/2011/0... Phish initiated this new trend...
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