Michael Wollny embarks on a milestone solo voyage

For anyone following the career of the brilliant pianist Michael Wollny news this week that a new solo piano album Mondenkind ['Moonchild'], his first in the solo idiom, is to be released in late-September, is something to savour. Inspired by the …

Published: 16 Aug 2020. Updated: 3 years.

For anyone following the career of the brilliant pianist Michael Wollny news this week that a new solo piano album Mondenkind ['Moonchild'], his first in the solo idiom, is to be released in late-September, is something to savour.

Inspired by the moon landing of 1969 the album was recorded during lockdown. Says Wollny: "The situation was surreal. I spent two days in the large live room in Berlin's Teldex Studio. It was the first time in a very long time that I had been alone and without fellow musicians in a studio. On the way to the recordings I would be alone in a car, travelling through the empty city, and in the evening I would walk back to my empty hotel. Not only were there no other guests, there were no hotel staff either. I was absolutely alone with myself and with the music, and the ideas that surfaced in this situation went far beyond the original concept of the album.''

Half the pieces on the ACT release are by Wollny, the remainder by Tori Amos, the Toronto band Timber Timbre, Alban Berg and Rudolf Hindemith, Sufjan Stevens, Bryce Dessner and Nico Muhly. Michael Wollny photo: ACT.

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Previously unrecorded Sonny Rollins original features on Peter Bernstein's new album What Comes Next

'What Comes Next' from Peter Bernstein is the track that I've been turning to most this weekend. The title track of a new Smoke Sessions label release this autumn it has a bright, beautifully articulated lead melody line and that's just for …

Published: 16 Aug 2020. Updated: 3 years.

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'What Comes Next' from Peter Bernstein is the track that I've been turning to most this weekend. The title track of a new Smoke Sessions label release this autumn it has a bright, beautifully articulated lead melody line and that's just for starters. Like the best jazz tunes it tells a story.

Recorded during Lockdown at New York’s Sear Sound studio, “We all kept our masks on,” Bernstein says, “It felt a little strange at first, but I’m just thankful for the chance to try and create something with musicians I love. It was such a beautiful day.”

Bernstein's tone is a thing of beauty on a track that seems to dig deep into jazz guitar traditions without being obstructed by them. With Sullivan Fortner on piano, Peter Washington on bass and Joe Farnsworth on drums it's a meeting of equals and just seems to make sense from start to finish.

Bernstein is an influence on young players out there like the Irish talent Joseph Leighton and it's no wonder that his approach has appeal given the sheer fluency and flowing skill in his method. What Comes Next also features a previously unrecorded Sonny Rollins composition, the calypso 'Newark News.'