So Far

For Piano

 

·  As birdsong reaches high and sings the morning into light  ·

Distance can be like time. It might seem endless, or hold no sway at all. The choice is always ours.

 

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'So Far' is a phrase full of twists and turns that relate to the distance between two things that may be physical, of the mind, or the heart. Things we can touch, ideas, and feelings: I can only see so far; so far as I know; you are so far; we have come so far; so far I only know of love.

This music uses the sounds of my favourite piano, a beautifully warm vintage 1920 Steinway grand piano that is magical to play. A New York concert hall with a sweet natural bloom helps the piano sing out. Both the piano and hall have been captured in fine detail so I can play each note at will today. They are testament to how distance in both time and place can be overcome to make something new.

'So Far' emerged from many hours of improvisation as I pondered on the space that separates one from another. Perhaps distance is to being close as darkness is to light. I never truly come to know light without its counterweight darkness. I never truly know what it is to be close without the counterweight of distance. With distance and darkness I come to better know myself, and I come to better know another.

As we listen to music, for its moment, our time becomes the same. Perhaps this is why I am drawn to it so powerfully as it is always and only of the present no matter when it first became. It matters to my now. It matters to your now. It is both close and bright.

In 'So Far', jazz stretches between the tender classical lyricism of the start and end of the piece, like the ease and care of friends. Swing is an expression of freedom and spontaneity, a style far more of the body than the mind. It feels and moves my heart as dance to a child.

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A full size extract from the artwork 'So Far' follows...