MP3 Tone Poems - NEW AGE: Ambient

All original solo piano played in an improvisational style evoking the feelings and the sounds of nature, deep and introspective,, quiet and moody, a mystical blend of jazz and classical music.

13 MP3 Songs
NEW AGE: Ambient, EASY LISTENING: Mood Music



Details:
Originally I'm from New Orleans. Born and raised there. Of course the city's musical history influences my own music heavily, less in form more in spirit.

When I say less in form I mean that my stuff does not sound like honky tonk jazz (although there was a period in which I was heavily into ragtime and composed many rag like pieces) nor does it have that Dr. John sound either.

It has what I would call modern jazz influences and a lot of classical elements. Sort of reminiscent of Chopin, who I love. (The operative word here is reminiscent, not "sounds like".)

I don't have a vast CD collection maybe about 25 CD's and I gave away most of my vinyl albums. I would say one of my earliest influences was The Kingston Trio .(The only vinyl which I still have. When Capitol comes out with CD's for them then out they go.) That mainly influences my writing and singing for guitar and voice.

I actually don't buy a lot of music and I don't listen to a lot except sound bites on my car radio as I scan from station to station looking for that rare song I like. Most of the music I hear goes on in my head, almost constantly.

My guitar/voice stuff is very folk oriented with some modern elements thrown in. I'm not the greatest guitar player, nor am I really good. I just play well what I know and I've fashioned my own style. I'll talk about my guitar playing when that CD comes out.

So I basically work in two completely different types of music.

When I say that my music is like New Orleans music in spirit I mean that the ability for New Orleans music to draw from different musical idioms is exixtent in me. I absorbed it like a sponge.

Also my leaning toward improvisation expressing the music, or what the music is saying to me rather than adherence to chord structure or any kind of theory. I play from the heart rather than from the head which is the essence of New Orleans music.

In truth I am not that versed on music theory and don't understand a lot of it. I play what sounds good to me and what feels good. I do read music fairly well but that is something that I struggled with most of my life.

In fact because I was not a very good sight reader was the reason I launched into writing my own music when I was back in college. I got frustrated with trying to read and play someone else's music. So I just started making up my own.

I dont' think I was really properly trained from the start to be a great musician which in a way was probably to my benefit looking back on it. I had to devolop my own style, I had to learn how to improvise by myself and play what sounded good to me. Because of that I was not stuck into some kind of conventional way of learning and composing music or even improvising.

I think the way music is taught nowadays for the most part is lacking tremendously. Back during Bach and Beethoven times these people were taught how to improvise, how to make up music. Today most music students have no training whatsoever in improvisation which I think is a terrible shame. I believe improvisation is the real heart of any really good music.

I was having a discussion with a good friend of mine a great jazz guitarist who is stuck at some job managing a factory. I told him how I improvise and come up with music, that it is not a cerebral thing with me.

I don't think of any kind of scale permutations, that if I move something up a seventh then I'll get this or that. I just play. He couldn't understand that. He says he's so concerned with how somthing is going to sound, that he is always thinking ahead about scales and chords and such. He didn't understand how I could just play.

Actually I don't understand it either. I'm not saying one way is better than the other. I couldn't imagine what it would be like to play and always be thinking of chords and scales and such. It would drive me crazy. I don't really think very much while I play, most of the time I don't even know what scale I'm in.

I like music that has that Yin and Yang, the hard and the soft, the sweetness and the edge, the dark and the light. And I like my stuff to be unpredictable like you're never really sure where it's going or where it will end up. I like it to have that edge.

I like to keep my stuff open to improvisation, that dangerous ground of being. That is what turns me on about the music I play being able to take off and let the music do it. It uses my limited skills to express itself.

Sometimes I wish I was a really great blues guitarist. I was in The Candlelight Room in Portland and was listening to Jay Cooter and his band. This is a class act. That place can get pretty crowded and he has a radio Telecaster. He slowly walks through the crowd as he plays standing in front of beautiful women romancing them with his awesome playing.

You can't do that with a piano. A piano just isn't as sexy as a guitar especially an electric guitar that looks like a strat or telecaster. You can't make the piano whine or be rough and smooth at the same time like you can with a guitar. An electric guitar is so expressive, it's the violin of modern music.

And of course there was Liszt, the great pianist composer (who I never listened to or ever played) who could make women swoon in the aisles and was a 19th century version of Michael Jackson.

The aspect of the piano I think I most like is its ability to be haunting, ethereal, it's huge range of notes that covers practically every note that can be played by any western instrument. I like the potential of having that at my command.

It's almost like being at the helm of a great ship, this big giant thing connected to me through my fingertips as I steer it sometimes through calm waters when I'm playing well, sometimes through rough seas when piano playing seems to be a struggle.

Sometimes I come away inspired by the trip, other times I get frustrated and wonder why I bother to take the trip at all.

I guess, I tell myself, I'm learning something in the process, I'm growing, evolving, becoming better, opening up more. Excuse me for being trite but it's all a learning experience.



TESTIMONIALS

"We have been swamped with work for the past while and truthfully, have had a hard time staying focused with all the distractions. We plugged in your CD and had it playing in the background this morning and I can honestly say it turned out to be one of the most productive mornings in our office in the last six months! Your music has such a nice tone and flow. It enabled us to work in a tranquil, peaceful atmosphere. THANK YOU! Hopefully it can help many others get focused and on track!"
-- Barry Spilchuk, Co-author, A Cup of Chicken Soup for the Soul, CEO Let's Talk, Inc.

"When I hear your music I love to sit and close my eyes and prepare for an opening because that's what your music does. It opens me up and allows what's within me, the natural inspiration, the wellspring to come forward with the highest light. It's truly wonderful for healing."
--Shannon Peck, Co-Author, Liberating Your Magnificence

"Richard's music has a tranquil spontaneity that is relaxing and invigorating! He is a gifted musician with a remarkable talent to heal and uplift listeners of all ages with his unique sound!"
--Diana Loomans, author of Full Esteem Ahead, and The Lovables, Del Mar, CA

"Richard, with his unique style and charismatic flair, has the ability to not only write melodic tunes, but to just sit down and improvise them on a moment's notice, and still manage to lay down tranquil melodies against a backdrop of pure serenity.
--C.J. McCauley, Publisher, Shock Value Webzine

"Thank you for your beautiful CD. I listened to it almost the entire day after receiving it, allowing your talent to be background music for me as I did my work during the day. I was very impressed and moved."
--Nick Bunick, Subject of The Messengers, Author of In God's Truth, Lake Oswego, OR

"Bienvenu's style invites comparisons to solo piano giant Keith Jarret."
‑‑Michael Evans, Reviewer, Portland KATU CitySearch

"It's simply superbbbbb‑eh! The music is wonderful. There's such a huge amount of heart and spirit in the music, that it took me through many emotional tones in listening to it. It made my heart ache and feel so much, while the first number made my heart dance. It touched me and made me very happy to know someone with such heart that can put it out in the universe so creatively, lyrically, and emotionally."
--Goeff Laughton, Seminar Leader, Rohnert Park, CA

"A must have for your collection of solo piano music!"
--Jimmy Dunn, Owner, Planet Grooves Music Store, Clearwater, FL

"Its' great music to listen to when you are trying to relax. It's very fluid. I get emotional when I listen to it. It's hard to verbalize it. There are not many CD's I listen to regularly but yours is one of them. It's perfect Yoga music."
--Noelle Gause, Actress, Los Angeles, CA

"The musician proves himself to be an empathic performer, able to capture the mood of the moment with impressive ease."
--Michael Evans, Portland KATU CitySearch

"I love listening to the CD especially when I go to bed at night. It helps relax me and remove the cares of the day. There is something about these simple improvisations that are very healing to me."
‑‑Shelly Edmondson, Reiki Practitioner, Vancouver, WA

"Sensitive, intuitive, creative, intelligent. There was this sense of communicating through the piano keys, that he was speaking a language, the language of feelings. It stirred my body and soul bringing up feelings in myself that were nameless. I was amazed at the flexibility and freedom of his playing, a flow and a movement that took me on a musical and visual journey. I was totally blown away with his ability to improvised, to sit down in the studio and let it come. I have never heard anybody else doing that."
--Lynne Vyfvinkel, Seminar Leader, Battle Ground,WA

"I got your CD. Thank you so much. It is beautiful."
--Max Vogt, Realtor, Onalaska, WA

"Thank you so very much for sending me your CD....it is beautiful......"
--Linda Dudley, InSpirit Seminar Leader, Durango, CO

"What a joy it is. I had no idea it was going to be this good. Thanks for spreading all that joy and love this way. Very impressive. I am very proud of you and this accomplishment."
--Dennis Gregg, Seminar Leader, Los Angeles, CA

"I never get tired of listening to it. The music seems to wrap itself around me like a warm blanket. It is so rich with emotion and feeling, subtle nuances that reveal themselves with each listening."
‑‑ Patrick Quince, Writer, Vancouver, WA

"Richard ‑‑thanks for the CD ... as usual, it was wonderful! As we listened, we remembered when you were staying with us and you improvised in the evening. When you left we genuinely felt that something valuable ‑‑ spontaneity ‑‑ left with you ... hearing you play again was exciting."
--Colin McKay, Screenwriter, Los Angeles, CA

"My brother heard it when he was visiting. He borrowed it and now he won't give it back. So, I'm ordering another copy."
‑‑Christa Giammatteo, Waitress, Tacoma, WA

"I have grown to love classical music, particularly piano music, and your recording sounds to me as accomplished as many CD's that I've bought." ‑‑Rev. Don Saunders, S.J., Principal Jesuit High School, Tampa, Florida

"My husband and I take separate cars to work. The music is so relaxing when driving we fight over who's gonna take Tone Poems! To keep peace I'm ordering my own copy."
‑‑Pam Wilson, Advertising Sales, Portland, OR

"His natural technique, the ability of his hands to move according to the sound of something beneath our best intent, never ceases to silence any distraction in my mind...For me, Richard stands like the Magician of the Tarot, one hand pointing to this earth, the other aimed at the heavens‑a lightning rod to call down our ancient memories. It is not surprising to read on the CD cover that Richard doesn't "feel" the music in any ordinary way. He is an innocent and gifted conduit between our souls and our lives unassumingly offering in his art the poetry of our own longing and satisfaction."
--Will McGreal, Symphony Conductor, Los Angeles

"I put your CD on and was inspired to complete an entire painting in the hour it took to listen to it. It is perfect music for creativity."
--Blake Goughnour, Northwest Artist, Woodland, WA

"If you were to close your eyes while listening to [Al Lado del Lago] this first cut, you would be transported to the bottom of a mountain, by a lake at dusk when a hush falls over the valley just before, during and after the night creatures erupt in their hustle and bustle. Not a lot of songs have that quality."
‑‑C.J. McCauley, Publisher, Shock Value Music Webzine

"Your inspiring music has brought more light into my artistic abilities. It seems with your knowledge shared it gave me that extra push into seeing the deeper perspectives of life."
-- Ku Nihipali, Video Journalist, Vancouver, WA

"I listened to your CD almost non‑stop during the period of time when first my brother and then my mother died ‑ they died within a month of each other ‑ and through the beginning of the grief period. The music was so comforting ‑ there is a deep level of feeling in it, and yet I found that it didn't stir up emotion but rather soothed me. Sometimes I put it on with a group of CD's and listened over and over during the night as I slept, so I wouldn't feel quite so alone. Thank you ‑‑ your music is a gift."
--Judith Aftergut, Writer, Portland, OR

"I'm callling to let you know that I listened to your CD again while I was doing housework and I just wanted to let you know that I think it's a really, really great CD and I'm looking forward to your next one cause I know it's going to be just at great as this one." --Leslie Drummond, Dental Hygienist, Vancouver WA

"Thanks for the great music. I would love to have you on my show. If your are spending Thanksgiving with your mom tomorrow tell her the piano lessons paid off."
--Steve Vaile, Music Producer, Portland, OR

"I just want you to know how much I enjoy your CD. It is in my CD player all the time. I listen to it over and over and over. I've just about worn it out. When my day becomes stressed the soft sounds brings me to a center of peace and it makes the day move along. I appreciate the gift that flows through and the melodies of heaven that touch my heart."
--Kathleen Hudson, Insurance Specialist, Peoria, AZ

"Your CD is great. The music lifts the mood and heals the heart."
--Dr. Judi Moore, Family Physician, Provo , UT

"Please let us thank you for your fabulous music! We listen to your CD all the time and it is literally our favorite. It is THE MUSIC for making love ‑ all the time. What a talent you have to transform life into exquisite beauty. We mean that with all our heart."
--Shanon Peck, Co-author, Liberating Your Magnificence

"I second what Shannon said. Your music is BEAUTIFUL ‑ and at the top of our selections."
--Scott Peck, Co-author, Liberating Your Magnificence

"Clear, fresh. From an impressionistic master. Tone Poems is magnificent!"
--Gregg Gause, Financial Consultant, Los Angeles, CA


"I play your CD quite often. It's had quite an emotional impact on my life. I'll tell ya I ain't never spent fifteen bucks more efficiently in my life than buying your CD... Thank you and God Bless ya. My family enjoys it too. You're amazing."
--Craig Wiseman, CEO Boing Inc, Los Angeles, CA

"Tone poems is a moving and inspiring piece of music. Richard Bienvenu is a
talented and gifted musician. I would recommend his CD to anyone who wants
to enjoy music that is original and spiritual ."
--Lorry Dietrich, Life Coach, Fairview Village, PA

"I have been listening to your CD and I just wanted to drop a line to say how fabulous it is. Your music is very moving to my soul and I thank you for the gift you are sharing."
--Beth Ayres, Administrative Manager, Lake Oswego, OR

"I received the CD yesterday and I have greatly enjoyed listening to it. I love the spirit of improvisation you are so clearly blessed with. It's truly an impressive collection of music."
--Andrew Dainoff, Film Director, Los Angeles, CA

"I found the music of your CD "Tone Poems" on the site tropia.com. I think it's very inspiring and also beautiful. I hope you do continue working on your music because it's worth listening to!"
--Nathalie Pelletier

"Richard, my friends received the CD you sent. They love it. I wish you could have heard their enthusiasm! The other I keep in the office and play it while I work."
--J.E. Simoneaux, Independent Insurance Agent, New Orleans, LA

"I love your CD. I've listened to it fifteen times in a row."
--Rainier Billingsly, Rancher, McMinnville, OR

"Your music is great and I enjoy listening to it all the time."
- Art Smith, Celebrity Chef, author, Back to the Table: The Reunion of Food and Family, Chicago, IL

"Personally, your style suits me. I was reminded of many artists while listening. Especially Keith Jarret's Koln concert."
- Ed Fox, Seminar Leader, Los Angeles, CA

"This is a lovely collection of music! Inspiring and ethereal, it has a unique quality that touches the heart. Needless to say this CD is played over and over in our home. I can't recommend it highly enough." -- Christine Davis, Lighthearted Press, Author, For Every Cat an Angel

"I am listening to your CD. I've been listening to it all morning. It is so incredible. It has helped me work all morning long because it is so soothing and it is inspiring. I'm impressed. I am really am so incredibly impressed. I love piano. I wanted to let you know that is something I will play ever day while I'm working. It helps me relax and think."
--Brenda Gordon, President Armani Enterprises, Vancouver WA

"Hey, I have listened to your CD every day! I don't know how tell you: It's fantastic! You are a genius!! I have been praticing yoga listening your piano solos. It's wonderfull!"
--Alexandre Mliagres, Petroleum Engineer, Brazil


REVIEWS

"Tone Poems is Bold Debut"
Artist of the Month
Review by C.J. McCauley
Shock Value Music Webzine

Richard Bienvenu is our first Artist of the Month with an instrumental album. Tone Poems is a bold debut filled with improvisational pieces. When he sits down to improvise a song, he says "it's like being on a road in uncharted territory in which the road appears the instant you put your foot down."

The first cut, Al Lado del Lago, which translates to By The Lake, stands out boldly. It has a sense about it that evokes emotional responses. If you were to close your eyes while listening to this first cut, you would be transported to the bottom of a mountain, by a lake at dusk when a hush falls over the valley just before, during and after the night creatures erupt in their hustle and bustle. Not a lot of songs have that quality.

He has some very strong songs like Quiet Mountain where the title says it all. It's a quiet song with a soft melody, just as you would expect. The titles also say it all for Afternoon, Midnight Moon, and Sundown.

A native of New Orleans you can feel that city's modern jazz influences in pieces like Southern Improv, and Irish. There's a trace of classical in each tune, and maybe even a touch of ragtime in Web.

If you're looking for structure, you're in the wrong place entirely. "I play from the heart rather than from the head" he says in his biography, explaining why you won't find chord structure, or style based on theory in his tunes.

There is a strong nature theme in Tone Poems, and the unstructured sound goes right along with that theme. Richard draws his inspiration from musicians like Scott Joplin and Keith Jarret, who improvises his live concerts.

Richard has the ability to not only write melodic tunes, but to just sit down and improvise them on a moment's notice, and still manage to lay down tranquil melodies against a backdrop of pure serenity. Richard, with his unique style and charismatic flair, has the potential to exceed the current market of solo pianists.


"A Finely Tuned Melodic Sense"
Review by Michael Evans
Portland KATU CitySearch

Pianist Richard Bienvenu weighs in with an evocative set of jazz‑ and classical‑flavored improvisations on his debut CD, "Tone Poems."

Bienvenu's style invites comparisons to solo piano giant Keith Jarrett and, to a lesser extent, New Age dabbler George Winston. The musician proves himself to be an empathic performer, able to capture the mood of the moment with impressive ease.

Although the New Orleanian has a background in playing ragtime jazz, Bienvenu's current work leans toward the quieter and more introspective side.

Among the album's highlights are "Al Lado el Lago (By The Lake)" and "Pine Alley," a pair of introspective improv pieces that wouldn't have sounded out of place on Keith Jarrett's classic solo work "Koln Concert."

Bienvenu's "Medicine Wheel" lives up to its title; it's a gently turning piece that builds into a work of tranquil beauty.

With "Tone Poems," Bienvenu has come up with the perfect soundtrack for that intimate late‑night rendezvous at a tiny hotel piano bar; its music will have you asking, "Say bartender, another snifter of cognac, please..."