The sound of my youth | Joe Jackson (*1954)

1979 Joe Jackson became famous over night with his song “Is She Really Going Out With Him”. He only reluctantly appears in public, prefers to watch to being watched, rarely gives interviews, declines invitations to talk shows, doesn’t want to be a star, and much less a famous one, but he does want to be recognized as a musician. He mixed masterfully pop, rock, swing and jazz, wrote film music, a symphony and one worldwide hit: Steppin’ Out. It is for this versatility that his fans loved him. He lived for 20 years in New York, and left his beloved “town of outsiders” in 2006 to return to Europe, more precisely: Berlin. The overregulation of American live, in particular the smoking ban, had become unbearable to him. Since 35 years he is playing with his trio. Untuned pianos are an ordeal to the musician with absolute pitch. If he is playing in Berlin, be sure to book early – worldwide his concerts are sold out most of the time!

Singing Buddha at the Piano: Glenn Gould (1932 – 1982)

 
Here I would like to introduce one my favourite pianist. Glenn Gould sang as he played. And he was a singing buddha because…
 
“The purpose of art is not the release of a momentary ejection of adrenaline, but rather the gradual, lifelong construction of a state of wonder and serenity.”
 
Glenn Gould 1962 in Payzant (Glenn Gould: Music and Mind), p.64

Many critics considered Glenn Gould’s interpretations as too eccentric. And so one of my piano teachers too expressed her critical remarks about my juvenilely clumsy attempt at imitating Gould’s non-legato style. To me he was one of the most ingenious pianists, who with his at times idiosyncratic interpretations revolutionised the piano playing of the classical genre.
This well-researched, thoroughly watchable and entertaining TV documentary describes in five parts his life and evolvement to one of the most famous piano virtuosos of the 20th century. Witnesses of his time and people who knew him or were close to him tell of their experiences with Glenn Gould, describe his rhythmic, a little angular and always very clear style of interpretation, which stands in stark contrast to the rather romantic fashion of his predecessors and contemporaries, thereby also causing a furore.

More information on Glenn Gould you can find here …

An electrical engineer plays the piano | Mr Bean

Here’s a little something to make you chuckle. Mr Bean is learning to play the piano. Autodidactically, of course. Because he quickly hits the brick wall, he decides to call a piano teacher…