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CD
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EMANEM 5001CD
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"Most of a solo piano concert performed in Bordeaux. The free improvising basically follows on from his 1993 recording Playing Alone (Acta 9). It is mostly a leap forward from the earlier album, but there are also some fond looks backwards as when fragments of tunes from the jazz age creep in. One can hear the influence of the two major pianists of the 1960s -- both the spaciousness of Paul Bley and the density of Cecil Taylor -- and also that of composers, most notably Béla Bartók and, above all, Conlon Nancarrow, who used piano rolls to create music not playable by mere mortals. Out of all these influences, Weston has long found his own voice in a style that is administered strictly through the keyboard and pedals. His improvising ranges from somewhat isolated pecks at the keyboard to involved passages that sound impossible for one pianist to play. There are times when his left and right hands sound like fairly unrelated entities, as if there was a duet going on. Since Weston first appeared on record (with Lol Coxhill) over thirty years ago, he has continued to get better and better, making him one of the major musicians in the world of free improvisation. Over twenty years ago, the notes on his first solo record stated that: Veryan Weston is a pianist whose reputation has yet to match his talent. That is still true, even though both his reputation and talent have grown considerably. 79 minutes." 3-panel digipack with liner notes by Martin Davidson.
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