| track
by track |
| These
pieces I have composed come from over 20 years of writing. I've written plenty
of pieces of music over the years, but these are the ones I often return to -
especially at quiet moments. My own safe places in a busy world. I hope they will
be a sanctuary for you too. |
1.
Honesty 3.24
A tune dating back to the earliest days of playing with the
group The Rain Garden - 1989. Then it was for sequencer, sitar and guitar.
| 2.
Cry From The Past 3.21
I used to play this on guitar, in fact was
originally written on it. I switched to playing it for piano with my jazz trio.
It now suits being solo very well -one of my favourite of my tunes.
|
3.
Beyond Distance 4.50
Used to play a version of this piece with my
Happy Landings jazz trio in about '95 but it was a solo piano piece first.
| 4.
Zero Horizon 2.30
I rediscovered this on an old cassette tape I'd
made in 1980 - a thrill to find it again as it was a favourite of mine.
|
5.
Cry For The Mountains 2.58
This has been recorded previously as a jazz
tune (on Breathtaking CD) and a song (on Live!
CD). Now here is the solo piano version.
| 6.
Kishori 2.40
This piece is in 7/8 and was inspired by an improvised line
of vocal by Indian Classical singer Kishori Amonkar. I first played this with
The Rain Garden on Ritual of the Sky People CD
|
7.
One Day Never 3.31
An old solo paino tune which I later played with my
jazz trio forsome years.
| 8.
Now and Then 3.20
This used to be part of a bigger piece Flourescant
Sea which I hope to record one day.
|
9.
Folklore 4.49
Another tune from The Rain Garden band days - I was listening
to a lot of European folk fusion music when I wrote this.
| 10.
I Will Know 4.51
Quite a new composition. A response to and a sister piece
to I Will Know on the Breathtaking CD
|
11.
Souling 2.06
I love improvising and tho i was keen to record many of my
classic tunes I wanted to include a spontaneous piece too.
| 12.
Mantra 2.15
I used to play this in my Solaris jazz quartet back in the
1980s - we'd improvise around it, come back toit - kind of freeform. I always
liked the fresh sound of the tune and how it winds around it's 36beat cycle.
|
13.
Kindred Vision 2.52
Justa set of descending chords but I alwasy enjoy playing
it - it again dates from early jazz trio days - the early 90s.
| 14.
Sanctuary 7.32
I always wanted to record this piece and am so glad to now
|
15.
Honesty Revisited 0.51
Was fun to maike this minimal arrangement - I tend
to like cyclic form on CD.
| total
time 52.27
|
| reviews |
| When
you've been the driving force behind 30 first-rate albums and witnessed the simultaneous
release of six CDs, you certainly have arrived. Chris is a Midlands pianist of
no mean ability in addition to being a talented multi-instrumentalist, singer
and composer.
This work is a solo piano feast, very much aimed at soothing
the furrowed brow and tense muscles of the modern man. Always concious of
how it will become a part of the listener's environment, Chris deliberatley markets
each CD for specific use ; for meditation, as ambient background for yoga, for
healing, etc, and offers a deep well of sustenance.
Atmospheric, refelective,
calming. Superior.
|
| "Pick
of the bunch for me is the piano album, Sanctuary, which is less definable
by the New Age label than the rest, though all stand head and shoulders above
most of what passes as such.
That Conway continues to languish under the
radar, as that rather expressive American phrase would have it, is something that
simply baffles me. Perhaps the recent news, that Brazilian jazz diva Ithamara
Koorax plans to record one of Conway's songs, might raise his profile a little.
In jazz circles, at any rate. And next time you're in the local mind-and-body
store getting your chakras realigned, check out the music playing in the background.
It might well be Chris Conway, offering a little sanctuary. "
Dave
White
|
| What
we thought: Calm and totally relaxing!
Perfect for playing in your therapy
room, or anywhere else for that matter, very relaxing listening. We all enjoyed
this CD very much. Jan
|
