Product Description
Contains:
"Waiting"
- taken from the Isadar solo piano collections, "Active Imagination / Reconstructed" (also available on SMP)
Sounds like: Keith Jarrett, Bill Evans, Vince Guaraldi, Liz Story, George Winston, early Windham Hill solo piano artists
Transcribed by: David Shenton (
https://www.shentonmusic.com/ ) verbatim to the sound recording
Note: A slightly different version of this composition is
also heard on the Isadar album, "Reconstructed" (Produced by Will
Ackerman)
Album & Songbook Review by: Kathy Parsons
I
love this CD! It constantly amazes me how many outstanding
composer/pianists there are out there - especially in relation to the
few who are highly (commercially) successful within this broad genre. I
would say that Active Imagination definitely
belongs near the top of the heap. Isadars style is original, and his
pianism is excellent. He lists his inspirations as Liz Story, Keith Jarrett, and Bill Evans, and I can hear traces of all three in his playing, but find his composing and playing styles to be uniquely his own.
The first three tracks are lively and upbeat ("Active Imagination", "Throwing the Dice", and "Where the Wild Things Are") with an easy, jazzy, improvised feel. The meter changes are fascinating, and the bluesy beat on "Wild Things" is infectious.
From there, the mood seems to gradually darken and become more introspective. "Waiting" is a beautiful, flowing mood piece full of questions and a lovely melody line. Isadars cover of Liz Storys "Wedding Rain"
is wonderful - this is a piece I often work on with my advanced
students, and everything about Isadars interpretation of the piece
seems right without being a carbon-copy of Lizs recording.
"Feu Follet (the spook light)" has a nice, easy flow with a strong sense of mystery; it also has an unusual rhythm that lightens the mood and adds a bounce. "Uncertainty"
is cooler and more aloof, but gorgeous in its flowing introspection -
that it ends with a major chord, feels like the soul-searching has had
positive results. "Love Chaconne" is the closing track, and is
the longest and most abstract piece on the CD. The left hand plays a
repeated pattern while the right hand goes off in several different
directions (one of the primary characteristics of a "chaconne").
Beautiful in its simplicity, this is the only track that seems to
contain an element of pain and sorrow, but never dissolves into
melodrama.
Active Imagination
is excellent from start to finish and I highly recommend it to anyone
who likes solo piano with substance and complexity, but is still
accessible, melodic, and rhythmic. Bravo amundo!
Active Imagination Sheet Music Collection is the companion songbook to Isadars 1999 CD release, Active Imagination. The CD was one of my favorites for the year when I reviewed it for the print version of "Wind and Wire" magazine, so I was really looking forward to the sheet music! Transcribed note-for-note by David Shenton of ShentonMusic.com
(I proofed about half of the book, so I can attest to how accurate it
is!), it is up to you to make the music sound as close to the CD as you
want or to interpret the music and make your own statements with it.
One
thing that really stands out about this collection is how much FUN it
i
This product was created by a member of ArrangeMe, Hal Leonard's global self-publishing community of independent composers, arrangers, and songwriters. ArrangeMe allows for the publication of unique arrangements of both popular titles and original compositions from a wide variety of voices and backgrounds.