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Tim Stevens - Media Vita (Rufus Records RF128)
Tim Stevens - Media Vita (Rufus Records RF128) As Cuban pianist Alfredo Rodriguez recently reminded us, playing solo piano is a conversation with…
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As Cuban pianist Alfredo Rodriguez recently reminded us, playing solo piano is a conversation with yourself. At 46, Tim Stevens is indeed media vita or in the midst of his life and career releasing his fourth solo piano album of which he says is “probably the most immediately accessible”. Stevens is one of the few Australian pianists who has genuinely forged a distinctively original solo style. Underpinned by his classical foundations, Stevens continues to challenge the listener with his harmonic approach. In 2016 Stevens went about writing a tune on a daily basis and the result is his 2016 distilled into 56 captivating minutes. The happy face/sad face illustrations on the album cover by his toddler son Oliver is a tender reflection of the 12 tunes used as vivid emotionally charged improvisational vehicles. Pseudepigrapha written on the 11th April, uses his left hand to create Cuban-like rhythms and chord progressions that provide bountiful opportunities for his right hand to react against using jaunty yet graceful leaping and plunging figures. 2016 was a good year
Peter Wockner
