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Prelude in E-flat minor & Fugue in D-sharp minor No. 8, BWV 853/Fugue (Instrumental) - Glenn Gould

Prelude & Fugue No. 2 in C minor, BWV 847/Fugue (Instrumental) - Glenn Gould

Prelude & Fugue No. 3 in C-sharp Major, BWV 848/Fugue (Instrumental) - Glenn Gould

Prelude & Fugue No. 5 in D Major, BWV 850/Prelude (Instrumental) - Glenn Gould

Prelude & Fugue No. 5 in D Major, BWV 850/Fugue (Instrumental) - Glenn Gould

Prelude & Fugue No. 7 in E-flat Major, BWV 852/Prelude (Instrumental) - Glenn Gould

Prelude & Fugue No. 4 in C-sharp minor, BWV 849/Prelude (Instrumental) - Glenn Gould

Prelude & Fugue No. 1 in C Major, BWV 846/Fugue (Instrumental) - Glenn Gould

Prelude & Fugue No. 6 in D minor, BWV 851/Fugue (Instrumental) - Glenn Gould

Prelude & Fugue No. 4 in C-sharp minor, BWV 849/Fugue (Instrumental) - Glenn Gould

Composer and pianist Randy Weston began his career gigging with Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson and Kenny Dorham, and was voted New Star Pianist in a 1955 Downbeat poll. He spent several years in Morocco, and incorporated African musical forms and musicians in his recorded work. On this Piano Jazz, Weston returns to the program with host McPartland to perform "A Ballad for T.," "Little Niles," and "African Lady."

More awesomeness for toy piano and electronics: Genevieve Feiwen Lee playing Shepard's Pi by Tom Flaherty. About the tonal processes in play here:
Named after cognitive psychologist Roger Shepard, a Shepard scale is an audio illusion in which a scale seems to rise endlessly, without getting higher. The constituent pitches consist of several simultaneous octaves, which fade out at the top of the scale and fade in at the bottom. Taken out of the moving context, the actual octave register of a note is ambiguous to the ear. A toy piano displays similar ambiguity: as the length of the sounding rods at lowest keys is too short to produce a true bass note, its overtones are louder than its fundamental pitch. Taken out of context the lowest F can sound more like its C overtone, an octave and a fifth higher. This ambiguity is part of the charm of the toy piano, and Shepards Pi enjoys playing with that charm, with lots of scales that seem not to get higher, sonorities whose octave register is ambiguous, and moments where the meter and tempo could be heard in several different ways.


(Via tomflaherty on InstantEncore)

For more extreme scale action, listen to Greg Anderson playing Ligeti's Devil's Staircase Etude.

A remarkable performance of the long string instrument.  This Sonarchy archive show was first aired in March 1999 and presents one of the deepest and richest of drone instruments played by the woman who built and developed it.

Photo of Marcus Nance by Brian Mosoff Congratulations to everyone involved with the recent Tapestry/Luminato production of Dark Star Requiem, a monumental dramatic oratorio (written by poet/librettist Jill Battson and composer Andrew Staniland) about the AIDS epidemic. Here are some follow-up links for those of you who missed the production and those who saw the production but want to explore a bit deeper:

• Serafin LaRiviere's article in Xtra
• Jon Terauds' article about baritone Marcus Nance 
• Jon Terauds' reviews in the Star and on his blog
• February 2010 workshop photos
• Jill Battson writes a blog, aptly titled PoetBureau

Many people mentioned that they loved the work, but needed more time to genuinely engage with Jill Battson's libretto. Folded&Gathered Press and A.K. Collings Fine Art have come out with two editions of the Dark Star libretto, a $20 soft cover limited edition (500 copies printed) and a $350 deluxe boxed set edition (50 copies printed). If you're interested in purchasing one of these editions, visit Folded&Gathered for more information.

Update 11am: More reviews from Anya Wassenberg in Art and Culture Maven and Joseph So in La Scena Musicale.

While studying at the University of Memphis and completing a collaborative piano assistantship, Kennith Freeman wrote a letter to those who were taking his work for granted and then put it aside. Several years pass, he discovers the letter again, and posts it on his blog. Take a look at An Open Letter From Your Collaborative Pianist - you'll notice a lot of issues common to all pianists of the collaborative variety. A snippet:
I know that you don't always take notice of me since I generally sit behind you, but that does not mean that my participation in the recital is less important that yours. Realize that my colleagues and I no longer refer to ourselves by the condescending term of "accompanist"; instead, we refer to ourselves as "collaborative pianists" for two basic reasons. First and foremost, we are pianists. We are not defined by the vocalists and instrumentalists that we support in recital; we have spent countless hours developing our skills and mastering piano technique and deserve to be recognized as skilled performers. The adjective "collaborative" suggests that we are equal partners in the musical process. Without sounding overly arrogant, it is important that you realize that without our assistance, many of your most important works could not be performed. Since these master composers saw the inclusion of the piano as essential to the work they created, it is imperative that you also recognize our importance and stop treating us as a necessary evil.In fact, you should check out more articles from Kennith's blog Collaborations, which shall forthwith take its place as required reading for all collaborative pianists.

Saxophonist John "Johnny" Dankworth was one of the most celebrated jazz musicians and bandleaders of his native Great Britain. He performed with Charlie Parker during the bop era, and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2006. Dankworth passed away earlier this year at age 82. Piano Jazz remembers Dankworth on this 1998 session, recorded before an audience at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York. Dankworth joins vocalist and wife Cleo Laine, along with host McPartland, for "I Can't Give You Anything But Love," and "Fine and Mellow."

Funk and afro-beat explorations with Ben Bloom (guitar), Grant Schroff (drums), Jason Gray (bass), Lalo Bello (percussion), Scott Morning (trumpet), Eli Clark (trombone) and Art Brown (alto sax).

3. Allegro vivace - Lang Lang

Abegg Variations, Op.1 - Lang Lang

Variation 5 - Lang Lang