Product Description

No Description Available
No Track Information Available
Media Type: CD
Artist: MAYS,LYLE
Title: SOLO IMPROVISATIONS FOR EXPAND
Street Release Date: 06/13/2000
Domestic
Genre: JAZZ

Track Listing

1. This Moment
2. Let Me Count the Ways
3. We Are All Alone
4. Imperative
5. Procession
6. Black Ice
7. Origami
8. Lightning Field
9. Locked in Amber
10. Long Life

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #60382 in Music
• Brand: MAYS,LYLE
• Released on: 2000-06-13
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .21 pounds

Amazon.com
Like his longtime cohort, guitar legend Pat Metheny, Lyle Mays never settles for simplicity. Any other pianist naming a project Solo might easily just play some lovely piano improvisations and leave it at that. But for his fourth solo recording, the longtime Metheny Group keyboardist boldly tries going where no piano virtuoso has gone before. His approach is so unique and risky, in fact, that one almost has to be a technician to appreciate the way he achieves such a rich texturing of ivory-key improv and MIDI orchestrations. Suffice it to say that this music doesn't sound like any other piano-based jazz project, and that it requires multiple listens to fully appreciate the combination of spontaneous composing and complex arrangements and production.

At times, Mays is very dramatic, then he'll switch quickly to the reflective, as he does on the opening track, "The Moment." He plays dramatic, harp-like flourishes, then eases into gentle impressionism that features occasional arpeggio bursts for emphasis. "Let Me Count the Ways" is a mood piece that rings like a sweet little New Age ditty due to the rare (for this project) inclusion of what seems like a real melody. "Procession" is also a rare gem here, a true melodic story piece created off the cuff. Metheny himself encouraged Mays to try a really long piece, and thus we can credit him for the pretentious "We Are All Alone." The tune begins with more than a minute of pure ambience, then ebbs and flows with a mix of graceful passages and potent glissandos--none of which create a melody or much to grab on to for more than 10 minutes. "The Imperative" is quite the opposite--a two-minute burst of pure, rambling energy that maximizes the percussive potential of the piano. The fire of this track helps balance the kindly but long pieces, such as "Long Life," that predominate. Jazz fans and those who appreciated Mays's previous work may at first scratch their heads over this one, but they'll likely join fans of more unrestrained piano explorations in ultimately digging it. --Jonathan Widran

Customer Reviews

Mays hits a Home Run!
I've been wondering when I was going to hear Lyle Mays and his beautiful brand of music again. It has been quite a while since he's created music of his own. It appears he his been "wood shedding". The results are very nice. Solo Improvisations For Extended Piano paints impressionistic scenes with Lyle's acoustic and electric sounds. Sounds that may remind you of his earlier solo works as well as his strong influence in The Pat Metheny Group. I have always been fond of his playing. Having listened to him for the last 25 or 30 years! I do not think that anyone familiar with his aesthetic will be disappointed by this CD. I am hoping to hear from Lyle again and again.

Lyle's World
I believe "Solo Improvisations For Expanded Piano" by Lyle Mays to be nothing short of a ground breaking masterpiece, and each time I listen the plot thickens.

What has really delighted me is Lyle's concept of orchestration: there are no overt references to conventional orchestral instruments -- all sounds are organically tied to the sound of the piano (in fact, the very notes of the orchestration are entirely derived from the notes of his original improvisations). All synth sounds, and the processed sampled "prepared" piano sounds (not in the sense of John Cage's prepared piano, but sometimes referring to Henry Cowell's string scrapes and reverberant clouds) seem to emanate from the initial piano performance. Often the synth sounds are extensions of the sustained piano notes, functioning as "pitched reverb." To be sure, this is territory Lyle has been exploring for years, but "Solo" represents a pinnacle of accomplishment.

Of course, none of this sonic palette would mean much if the initial piano performances weren't so magnificent. These are truly improvised compositions, with all the organic and cohesive formal integrity that good composition should have, and with deep melodic and harmonic inspiration.

Listening again last night it occurred to me that the title "Solo" can be taken two ways: obviously it was all done by one person, it's a solo performance, but also in that the resultant composite sound really is a singular voice, one instrument: the "expanded" piano.

This is such an apt description, because the synths/samples do not comprise a second discreet voice playing material other than what was played on the original piano track -- all counterlines, inner voices, etc. are born of the original piano performance -- and these sounds realize the implications of the sonic possibilities of that performance like sunlight glinting on water or the play of the aurora borealis. The piano has been expanded.

I hope people realize the depth and significance of Lyle's achievement, because I really think it's monumental. Lyle is such an essential element of the Pat Metheny Group world; in fact, there would be no PMG as we know it without Lyle.

This is Lyle's world, and it's profound.

At long last.... Across the Expanse... Lyle's voice is heard
A beautiful album. Subtle, atmospheric, introspetive. This one is for the headphones, folks. Lyle's subtle use of electronics embellishes each piece in such a way that if you are across the room you'll feel it but might not hear it. Not as rhythmic or propulsive as his earlier releases but as rich as his first and 3rd releases. This one is (Bill)"Evanesque" in approach. This one you will play through from beginning to end. Each piece different seamlessly segues to the next piece. This recording's good points won't hit you all at once, Lyle's a storyteller this time, so listen closely, it is an intriguing story.