Classical improvising, with elements of New Age and Jazz.

8 MP3 Songs
NEW AGE: New Age, JAZZ: Smooth Jazz



Details:
"These pieces are all improvised. Basically, I went over to Don's [one of the producers'] house and played his piano [1911 Steinway 'O'] for a day. I edited the recordings and boiled it down to this, but there is very little actual editing in any of the pieces.

"I wanted something fresh that reflected both what I had to say and what I thought you might like to hear. It is music that is accessible but intelligent; beautiful, thoughtful, and pianistic. That was the goal anyway.

"There is no program. The names came after and are some reference to the music that probably only makes sense to me. The exception is 'Eulogy'. My teacher Lou Harrison wrote a beautiful piece for orchestra called Eulogy. I remember hearing it in 1980 and how it brought tears to my eyes. Traveling to Don's I heard the news of the space shuttle Columbia. I was so sad and I knew that I couldn't ignore how I was feeling about the tragedy. So I sat down and played 'Eulogy' first, modeled very loosely after Lou's piece, and it remains first in the play list. The next day I heard that Lou had passed away, and so the Eulogy seems to be for him as well." (from the liner notes)


Charles Hiestand is a composer, pianist, teacher, choir director, bass player, and record producer living in Seattle. He studied piano with Margaret Chaloff. He studied composition with Lou Harrison. He has a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Washington.