About

For his debut release as leader, Jeremy Siskind filled Simple Songs with music that he would want to listen to, rather than music that would simply show off his talents. The compositions are written melodically and clearly, in contrast to the contemporary trend towards more complex music (in terms of harmony and metrical machinations), and reflect Siskind’s affinity for folk, pop, and contrapuntal, pianistic, and Impressionistic music. However, the music is anything but oversimplified or dumbed-down; it is, in fact, laced with four-voice counterpart, modulations, Debussian harmonies, free improvisation, and more. He explains, “The marriage of powerfully melodic compositions with largely unrestrained improvising joins the two principle elements – (the seemingly opposite) accessibility for the audience and liberation for the performers – that I value most in my music.”

Siskind utilizes this junction of constraint and liberation with the specific intention to inspire and accompany moments in life when the normal world suddenly seems surreal. Simple Songs, writes Siskind, is intended for the times “when it’s suddenly marvelous that a body of people exists that can (and will!) deliver your letter or parcel to a precise location anywhere across the country or the world; or for when the lemonlight of morning seeps through your bedroom window so discretely that the coming day seems to genuflect in silent prayer; or for that instant when your mind momentarily flickers with the realization that every passerby must have a unique consciousness and private history and sea of memories whose depth rivals your own. The music is meant to be at once mysterious and revelatory, a chiaroscuro soundtrack for these frozen moments.”

On Simple Songs, Siskind shows himself to be the consummate modern day pianist, possessing fluidity and swiftness, melodic, harmonic and rhythmic sophistication, and a ruminative approach and touch. In light of his many gifts, the factor that truly gives his music its deep, resonating quality is Siskind’s great self-awareness coupled with his willingness – and finely-tuned ability – to share this consciousness with us through his art.