April and 20th century art music have something in common for me -- I have a love-hate relationship with them both -- both can be incredibly beautiful, but also disconcerting. In music, as an African American, I am deeply steeped in jazz and so borrow often to soften the discords when I want to blend in the modern elements into my piano improvisations ...
... but April is not so easily handled, being the first full month of spring and having to transition out of winter and into allergy season. The beauty of April is matchless (except perhaps by May, and on the autumn side, perhaps October) ...
Photo by the author, Deeann D. Mathews, April 8, 2024
... but I get sick almost every year with sinus infections and the Easter church musician stress, and then, generally, bad situations that managed to hang on through the holidays and stay quiet through winter generally run out of steam right around April, because April has nothing for anything not ready to live to the fullest. Spring cleaning is a thing for a reason ... and then there are those April winds that make trying to get a good walk in something of an extra adventure -- those last trees that thought they were done dropping limbs or their whole selves are generally going to find their way to the ground in April here ...
... but still, April on a calm day ... to walk outside is to fall in love, allergies and all ...
Photo by the author, Deeann D. Mathews, April 8, 2024
So I had all this in mind as I sat down at the piano, my sinuses acting up, but all the beauty of the month in my mind and heart, my recent listening to both darling old Beethoven and 20th century composer Samuel Feinberg in my mind along with my chops in jazz coming through with the classical part ... and you will hear the wind blowing through ... but in music, I have to come down on the side of the love -- enjoy!
Do you want to get involved? Do you want to support music and this project? Follow us to keep you updated and read our Introduction post!
🎶 Join us on our Discord Server! 🎵
I loved this improvisation, April is a very special month for me because it is my birthday. I loved every part of your interpretation and as I was reading and looking at the beautiful photos the melody made more sense.
Thank you for playing with so much heart, you are an excellent piano player.
Really nice one,I commend this piece 😊
This was such pleasant and serene piano playing, I respect and admire with the care and intention that you play so effortlessly. Splendid performance
It is the gift of God that I can improvise whole pieces at the keyboard!