Perpetual Motion Etudes
Perpetual Motion Etude #9: Enchanted Forest
The last etude in my series, “Enchanted Forest," is a Rachaminoff-esque texture with a harmonic language closer to Messiaen. https://youtu.be/f1xeVXkrBm0
Perpetual Motion #8: Blues
When I played "Blues" for my students some of them told me that it sounded like "Thrash Rock on Piano." [I kind of love that] Others have said it reminds them of some of Ligeti's etudes. It was actually based on some pretty complex theoretical...
Perpetual Motion Etude #7: Floating
"Floating" imagines weightless travel through the air. Pianistically, it requires very strenuous left-hand-over-right-hand crossing and intricate pedal work. The goal is to make these difficult movements while having the music feel effortless and...
Perpetual Motion Etude #6 – Temple Bells
Sometimes it’s an image that inspires music. This short clip I took in Toyama, Japan has always mesmerized me. It’s so epic and moody! My piece, “Temple Bells,” tries to capture the stillness, the mystery, and the meditative quality of the image....
Perpetual Motion Etude #5: Piccadilly Circus
“Piccadilly Circus” is dedicated to the pianist Jovanni Rey de Pedro, who embodied the extroverted spirit of this highly rhythmic piece. Although this piece has a British title, the music actually references some elements of the choro, a Brazilian...
Perpetual Motion Etude #4 (Homesick)
Have you ever felt conflicted between following in traditions and seeking your own path? That’s the subject of my new composition, “Homesick.” This piece is built around two pairs of melodies - the outer pair (in the pianist’s pinkies) moves in...
Perpetual Motion Etude 3: Brooklyn Sunset
Imagine - you're standing on the Brooklyn Bridge on a perfect summer evening. The sky is painted in purple and pinks. The clouds are embossed with reflected light. The evening's glow is reflected not only in the river below you, but off of all the...
Perpetual Motion Etude #2: Van Gogh’s Dream
Allow me to introduce “Van Gogh’s Dream,” which - for me - conjures images of a European cobblestone street on a drizzly day. You’ll hear the swirling of Van Gogh’s night skies in a Brad Mehldau-influenced piano texture, written in 18/16....
Perpetual Motion Etude #1: Sometimes I Wander
Each week, I'll be releasing a new video from my Perpetual Motion Etudes series. Here's Etude #1, "Sometimes I Wander." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSErQWeRnys
at_Home/at_Play
The “at_Home/at_Play” series documents live performances of the Housewarming Project (Siskind, Lucas Pino, Nancy Harms) at a house concert in San Diego, CA and at the Blue Whale jazz club in downtown Los Angeles. With their signature dynamic and emotional virtuosity, the group both debuts unreleased material and updates songs from Housewarming and Finger-Songwriter.
Videos #13/14: Bye Bye Blackbird
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bm-R4jMHr4 I think comparing these two videos is the best way to understand why I love working with this group so much. We’re able to play the song wildly...
Video #12: Hymn of Thanks
"Hymn of Thanks" was the result of my study of Bach Chorales. One of my best experiences in college was doing an "independent study" course with Dariusz Terefenko that was focused on improvising fugues...
Video #11: The Inevitable Letdown (At_Home Performance)
I wrote “The Inevitable Letdown” in New York City in 2009. I had two things on my mind: The stock market crash that led to the 2009 recession: As reports came out regarding the short-sighted greed of the...
Video #10: Kneel (Blue Whale performance)
“Kneel” is a song inspired by Caribbean poet Derek Walcott’s autobiography, Another Life. In one passage, Walcott describes having a pseudo-religious experience – he takes in the colorful richness of his...
Video #9: What is that Feeling?
“What is that Feeling” takes its title from a passage by Jack Kerouac in On the Road. On the Road is one of those books that it seems every teenager or college student has a passionate infatuation with,...
Video #8: One Art
The genesis of the song “One Art” comes from reading Elizabeth Bishop’s beautiful poem of the same name. I’ve read it in a few different classes, but I remember it most recently from a poetry seminar I...
Video #7: Linda
This one is personal. Linda Martinez was my first jazz piano teacher and an important mentor to me. She was a freelance composer and jazz pianist in the LA area, who tragically committed suicide when she...
Video #6: Twilit Water, Vanished Music
This piece kind of snuck up as a group to become one of our favorites. The impetus for the piece was a beautiful poem by Irish poet Seamus Heaney called “A New Song”: I met a girl from Derrygarve And the...
Video #5: If You Can Read
“If You Can Read” is a song based on something I’ve heard my mom say a lot – that if you can read, you can cook. The idea is that cooking is merely a matter of following a recipe. If you do what the...
Video #4: Whispering Grass
This is the first cover I’m posting here. This tune is originally by the doo-wop group, The Inkspots. You can watch their original performance here. It was because of a few odd coincidences that we...
Video #3: Melancholy Times
This song came about in a simple way – I was sitting in a hotel room in a suburb outside Detroit in the winter time. For those of you who travel a lot, you know that travel is glamorous and fun 20% of the...
Video #2: The Inevitable Letdown
I wrote “The Inevitable Letdown” in New York City in 2009. I had two things on my mind: The stock market crash that led to the 2009 recession: As reports came out regarding the short-sighted greed of the...
Video 1: “Sometimes I Wander”
In the summer of 2015, I did something nice for myself – on the way home from a teaching engagement in Tunisia, I booked myself an Airbnb with a piano in Paris for 5 nights. It was my own “Artist...