NEW! Solo piano works by James Armstrong...
CDs & Downloads available in 44.1 & 96kHz...
Track Listing & Audio Samples:
44.1kHz:
96kHz:
1.
Through The Eyes of a Child
[9:33] James Armstrong
($2.50)
($5.00)
2.
Blues for Haybert K.
[6:37] James Armstrong
($2.50)
($5.00)
3.
4 a.m.
[6:25] James Armstrong
($2.50)
($5.00)
4.
Harrison Street
[6:55] James Armstrong
($2.50)
($5.00)
5.
Perpetuum Mobile
[6:01] James Armstrong
($2.50)
($5.00)
6.
Sarabande
[6:37] James Armstrong
($2.50)
($5.00)
Files are delivered immediately after payment on the download page. File links are also sent via e-mail. If you have any questions about your order please contact support. Our files are very large and not recommended for those without a broadband internet connection.
For this second session at OTR Studios, I focused on a new, extended piece for solo piano and several older originals that evolved in my previous groups. The music reflects an ongoing effort to capture events in real-time, with no edits, inserts, or overdubs. As in the earlier recording, each performance was a first take.
Through the Eyes of a Child was written for my daughter, and approximates a classical sonata form, in four distinct sections. The opening statement – a toccata – consistently flouts conventions associated with the genre; rhythmically loose and improvisatory. Section two is a fantasy on a cadence in E major, and owes something to Manuel de Falla’s Fantasia Baetica in its gestures. Movement three is more jazz-oriented; an ostinato centered in E minor; fragile and melancholy, with superimposed harmonies. The finale, with its dense, chime-like effects, is a departure from the rest of the piece. A folk scale from Béla Bartók expands to harmonies centered in D flat.
Blues for Haybert K evolved in a jam session at the Storyville nightclub in San Francisco. The conventional twelve-bar blues form is assaulted head-on with jagged dissonance, abrupt modulations,and other devices not typical of jazz. At last, this piece for Jazz Now publisher Haybert Houston receives a thorough analysis and deconstruction.
4 a.m. is in 7/4 and is comprised of repeating figures centered in G and G flat. The rhythmic approach, however, is less obvious, and proved utterly vexatious in group readings. If anything, the forms represent significant technical challenges for the performer; the antithesis of a jazz tune.
Harrison Street is named after a busy thoroughfare in San Francisco; the only familiar route home during my days as a union musician. An interval sequence precedes an extended development section based on folk music; the finale is a paraphrase of a cadenza by Ferruccio Busoni. Perpetuum Mobile was inspired by a piece in Bartók's Mikrokosmos – pan-tonal effects over a steady pulse; a favorite practice in my most recent trio. Sarabande is a series of dance movements; a memory of Erik Satie and his scores, published by Salabert.
All compositions by James David Armstrong, Jr. (BMI)
Recorded by Mike Howles and Patrick O’Connor at OTR Studios / October 24, 2009
Cover art “Faith / Homage to Freedom” by Cathrine Edlinger-Kunze
James Armstrong has explored concurrent paths in improvisation and modern classical music since his 1979 graduation from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Past projects include trios, quartets, and inventions for small ensembles -- volatile, labor-intensive music with a marked pantonal focus. Now working on original repertoire for solo performance.
“...He has a firm grasp of the sheer power of Monk, often slamming the keys to create a shattering dissonance...he understands the rhythmic complexities of Cecil Taylor and the intellectualism of Andrew Hill. He has used these strong influences to create a personal style, always saving room for the purity of his own fingers on the keys. It is through his touch, his feel for the instrument that he achieves his individual power...” [ Stefan Zeniuk / Jazz Now Interactive, July 2002 ]
