24th Floor Vol I & II New Piano Albums

What do you do while in Minneapolis during the coldest winter there in decades? Record. Having been away from Minnesota winters for quite awhile, I suddenly found myself in Minneapolis for the winter of 2018-19. It proved not to let me down. It was full force Minnesota with sub-arctic below temps, snow measured in feet, blizzards, freezing flesh warnings…the ‘full monty’ as it were, and yet there was a familiarity that I seemed to have forgotten about over the years while away. I grew up there. I knew the Twin Cities. It was there that I began my lifelong musical journey, learned lessons, and gained disciplines that I would carry with me into the galaxy beyond. It only seemed fitting then that Minnesota would welcome me back with a full Viking winter embrace and “skol” challenge. These two albums reflect my observations, impressions, and perhaps even those deeper emotions of returning to a place and a specific earth season that has intrinsically become part of me as an artist. While some may have rushed for flights to tropical havens, I relished in warm fuzzy slippers, hot soups, and a “settling in” energy within a 24th floor apartment in downtown Minneapolis. All of these pieces are improvisational piano recorded in one or two takes, nothing thought out, just impressions of things I would see from my windows. Push record, play, and title the piece according to that moment as viewed from my 24th floor winter nest. Sunday Afternoon sunshine as it lazily warmed the apartment and the city below, a penthouse chandelier that glistened like a beacon on some wintery evenings, the city under a blanket of downy heavy snow in the middle of the night. Temperature inversions would send huge foggy mists to surround the buildings and those of us within would become undercover observers, like the gods and goddesses of Mount Olympus watching the mortals below. Blinding light from the star we call Sun would bounce off huge sheets of mirrored glass on a bright winter day sending jagged reflections of light from skyscrapers. Headlights became a lighted snake slithering itself slowly in and out of the city during dark early morning and late afternoon commutes. A hotel rooftop zen walking garden became a dragon tail that would remain hibernating and unseen until the spring, and as it thawed I watched window washers become descending spidermen who lowered themselves down the sides of skyscrapers at ‘spiderific’ speeds,…. just to wash icicles from windows. Every evening at sunset an ethereal spirit passed over the city with a haunting ambient and mesmerizing purple hue, leaving its gentle kiss as the city’s steel settled itself into the dark velvet that would follow. Enjoy.

Digital Download Only

Available on Bandcamp NOW @ https://alchymie.bandcamp.com

Worldwide release via all the usual shindigs JUNE 17th, 2019