STEPHEN GREW - Poseidon
Self-Release
Stephen Grew: Steinway grand piano
Recorded 17th January 2018 by Shaun Blezard in The Great Hall, Lancaster University
Based in Lancaster, Stephen Grew has spent that last quarter of a century creating a unique voice that pushes the boundaries of post-modern piano playing. The four pieces on this self-produced CD are titled track 1 to track 4. On the one hand, this means that each piece has an equal standing (distinguished only by number) and there is no opportunity to bring preconceived expectations of what the piece could be about; indeed, the idea that music could be ‘about’ anything could even by anathema to the improvised ethos. On the other hand, the set is called Poseidon – Greek god of the sea, of earthquakes and other natural disasters, so one could come up with a plausible account of the music in this set as a response to the perils of global warming (although Poseidon is also the name of a nuclear missile, so other interpretations are possible…).
The lack of a name for each track is characteristic of many of his previously recordings, as is the commitment to music making. Each track is totally improvised but with such a compelling logic that my first listen made me think I was hearing modern composed pieces. There is the same balance of well-balanced harmonics and hurtling runs that you find in piano pieces from many of the major modern and post-modern composers of the last sixty years; I had impressions of British, French and American piano pieces, but the point is not to find similarity as this does a disservice to Grew’s way of working, which is to create each piece afresh. Each of the pieces has a crystalline beauty that is difficult to reconcile with an idea of improv. If you take the idea of improvisation as ‘spontaneous composition’, what you have on display here is the spontaneity par excellence and the effort of avoiding musical constraints that composition might force upon a musician. This is further reason why the analogy with post-modern composers is such a poor one to make: what you have here is virtuoso improvisation by a master of his craft.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
Self-Release
Stephen Grew: Steinway grand piano
Recorded 17th January 2018 by Shaun Blezard in The Great Hall, Lancaster University
Based in Lancaster, Stephen Grew has spent that last quarter of a century creating a unique voice that pushes the boundaries of post-modern piano playing. The four pieces on this self-produced CD are titled track 1 to track 4. On the one hand, this means that each piece has an equal standing (distinguished only by number) and there is no opportunity to bring preconceived expectations of what the piece could be about; indeed, the idea that music could be ‘about’ anything could even by anathema to the improvised ethos. On the other hand, the set is called Poseidon – Greek god of the sea, of earthquakes and other natural disasters, so one could come up with a plausible account of the music in this set as a response to the perils of global warming (although Poseidon is also the name of a nuclear missile, so other interpretations are possible…).
The lack of a name for each track is characteristic of many of his previously recordings, as is the commitment to music making. Each track is totally improvised but with such a compelling logic that my first listen made me think I was hearing modern composed pieces. There is the same balance of well-balanced harmonics and hurtling runs that you find in piano pieces from many of the major modern and post-modern composers of the last sixty years; I had impressions of British, French and American piano pieces, but the point is not to find similarity as this does a disservice to Grew’s way of working, which is to create each piece afresh. Each of the pieces has a crystalline beauty that is difficult to reconcile with an idea of improv. If you take the idea of improvisation as ‘spontaneous composition’, what you have on display here is the spontaneity par excellence and the effort of avoiding musical constraints that composition might force upon a musician. This is further reason why the analogy with post-modern composers is such a poor one to make: what you have here is virtuoso improvisation by a master of his craft.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
