Things are moving along

I've made progress on the back cover of the CD, finally. I think I've arrived at the most fitting thing to use for it, so, that's good. My brother Matt also gave me a tip on the layout.

Speaking of which, my brothers Matt and Nick, The Mans, as their group is called, have made a new EP called Music for the Long Walk Home. It's very good! They recorded it in roughly three weeks by themselves. The website's going to re-launch in the New Year, so go check it out, bookmark it, and keep your eyes open in the future for it: http://www.the-mans.com.

So things are moving along design-wise, which is a relief because there really is a large checklist of things to be done before "A Piano Saga" can be manufactured. Fortunately, the hardest and most important element, the actual recording, is finished. Chelsea is going to master it sometime over the next month and that will be that.

We're making the CD one side DVD, and, we still have to do some shooting, editing, and mixing for that. But I'm very close to making a crucial decision about that which might make that process simpler. It's an idea that's pretty crazy, as far as I'm concerned at least, but crazy enough that I might do it. Guess you'll have to see!!

But we'll be doing all of the additional shooting for the DVD from next Monday until Wednesday, thanks to my friend Jeff who works in technology at Webster. Thanks of him, I can actually do this!

I'm also very happy to say that writing is officially underway for the NEXT cd. Not "A Piano Saga", which is my completed debut, but, my sophomore effort, as it were. There's a ways to go, but I did both start AND finish a new piece over the last few days. I'm pretty excited about it. This brings the official total of completed pieces likely to make the next album to 4. However, there are numerous other pieces in the pipeline, all of which stand a good chance at making it, 3 in particular

It took a while to start seriously thinking about new material again. After April 14th of this year [the date of my last full-length concert and what became the recording of "A Piano Saga"], I was worn-out and I was looking forward to a solid two weeks before starting over at Opera Theatre of St. Louis. But it turned out that they needed me before then. So, I'd already started the season off in a way which was not good or healthy for me at all. As of now, I don't want to work there again.

So from then on, for about 10 weeks, I was often exhausted, frustrated, occasionally physically compromised, and so on. Two or three days after the Opera season ended, one of my cousins died, and so we had to leave early for a wedding of ANOTHER one of my cousins in DC. We had to go to Nashville first for the funeral, then Washington DC for the wedding, all by car, and drive back. A couple thousand miles of travel, little sleep, great stress.

By the middle of July, I finally started to relax. But I must say that I can see now that it all took a toll on me that I didn't really start to bounce back from [at least emotionally] until...well, I don't know, sometime over the Fall.

So, the point is, I'm in a good place to write in earnest again. I've been writing all along, but now I can make a point of doing it.

one of the greats has passed on

...and I didn't even find out about it until over a month after it happened.

Chris Whitley was a great singer/songwriter in the vein of delta blues, National steel guitar, New Orleans tradition. His 1991 debut album, Living With The Law, is still, in my opinion, one of the greatest albums of the last quarter of the 20th century, and definitely way, way up there on my list. He died on November 20th at the age for 45. [an Amazon reader concurs: "Whitley's Living with the Law remains one of my top 10 albums of all time."]



A sensational lowish voice, great guitar skills, and honest yet poetic lyrics, Chris Whitley was phenomenal. Please, PLEASE go listen to samples from Living With The Law at amazon to see what I mean. A real marriage of southern landscaping and a more mainstream arrangement and production scheme [cut and paste]:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000027FZ/qid=1135328776/sr=8-2/ref=pd_bbs_2/104-8985750-8835146?v=glance&s=music&n=507846

I was just reading a post on Chocolate Genius's website [I know, weird stage name...his real name is Marc Anthony Thompson] about how he and his band opened for Chris on tour:

"In San Francisco at the Great American Music Hall, Chris began in earnest to kick our 5 piece ass with just his National and a piece of electric wood. "

Thompson didn't even use his last name. It took me all of a few seconds to know who he was talking about, and I laughed to myself in a playfully sly way, knowing full well how wonderful Chris Whitley is. It wasn't until I decided to check his webpage that I learned the 'is' is now a 'was'.

Here's more from Thompson:

"Night after night I get to watch his show and it's . . . . awe inspiring, humbling... Some nights, it makes me wonder what I'm doing out here at all."

Discovering Chris Whitley as I'd just turned thirteen was one of those seminal moments of my youth. I actually had a lot of them and they were usually music-related. I wasn't buying CDs yet, so I had audio cassettes all over the place. I'm pretty sure "Living With The Law" is one of the albums I wore out and had to replace.



I would have loved to have met him.

Thank you, Chris.

Here's what Dave Matthews had to say about him in 2001:

"Chris is an example of one of those things that appalls me about the record industry - That is, how could a talent like his go relatively unnoticed? So few singers have their own personality, and Chris is his own man to the bone. Honestly, I feel more passion for his music than I do for my own. My music I'm critical of. But I have a fervent, religious devotion to the magic that Chris makes."

Listen to a great NPR story from August about his most recent CD:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4796460

rave review from Solo Piano Publications

Solo Piano Publications is a music publishing company and they have a website, solopianopublications.com, that they use for reviews. I submitted my CD and the review, though it won't be put on the site until the album is available, is here:

Kenny Jaworski’s debut album, “A Piano Saga,” was recorded live in concert in April 2005 on a 9’ Steinway concert grand, and that’s about the only thing about this album that isn’t mind-blowing.

The twenty-seven-year-old St. Louis pianist is not only opening new doors in piano music - he’s blasting them open!

As he told me in an introductory email, his music “isn’t new age, but it’s new.” It is impossible to classify this music because it’s so different, but Jaworski seems to be getting the most notice from the classical camps, at least initially. There are abstract, free-form jazz elements as well, but Jaworski tells me that very little of this music is improvised.

Passionate, intense, and sometimes kind of wild, I certainly haven’t heard any other pianists performing this kind of music. It can take some getting used to, but I hear something new each time, and I’ve probably listened to this CD at least a dozen times.

Jaworski is mostly self-taught, and I’d say he is quite an amazing teacher! His flying fingers are jaw-dropping, and Jaworski’s musical message is unique. I’m very excited about getting to know this artist at an early point in his career!

The first three tracks are among my favorites. The opening track, “The First One,” is rhythmic and intense, and gives a strong indication of what’s to come. At just over a minute, this is a prelude of sorts. “It Begins Again” continues the intensity, but is more developed. Jaworski’s hands fly all over the piano keyboard with sometimes dancing notes and sometimes crashing octaves; I really like the main theme of this piece.

“The Mystique Factor” is my favorite piece on the CD. Rhythmic and energetic, it also seems to contain an element of humor. I love the mysterious passages in the deep bass and the way the piece just sort of drifts off at the end. “Dimensions” is bright and sparkling, and has several themes that develop over the course of the
piece - some very fast and crisp and others a little quieter.

“Ballerina’s Blues” is about a dancer who has to quit because of an injury. Some of this piece has a grace about it, and you get a sense of a ballerina on her toes, dancing across the stage, but there is also the anger and frustration with the injury. It’s a fascinating piece!

“Games People Play” is one of the more subdued pieces, but it is also very intense. Beginning in a more relaxed style, Jaworski just sort of wanders around the piano keyboard, setting the tone. The pace quickens, but the piece remains light and dancing. As the piece develops, it becomes more agitated and powerful to a peak, and then softens a bit to a gentle and compelling resolve.

As the title implies, “Grace” is a bit quieter and more reflective. “House of Doubt” is another favorite. Very dark and brooding, Jaworski seems to be working through his demons here, giving us some insight into a very personal realm that most of us
can identify with - a very impressive piece!

As you can probably tell, “A Piano Saga” is not music intended for massage or meditation. It is, however, cutting edge and dramatically original. If you are looking for an adventure in new piano music, Kenny Jaworski is your man!

Kathy Parsons
Solo Piano Publications

12/20/05

in print

My name was in St. Louis Woman Magazine this year. I assume it has to do with the benefit concert, but I haven't seen the issue.

http://www.stlouiswomanmag.com/special_sections2.html

"This is terrorism!" declared the murdering, torturing, and raping Saddam Hussein at his trial