Merged: Painted Music

Merged: Painted Music

Introducing Piano Sketches Painted music? Underscored painting? Actually both. It’s a different kind of improvised duet where artist Jeremy Harrison improvised a painting to my piano improvisations (Painted Music), or I improvise a piano piece to a video of...
IOTL S2-E7: Planned Chance

IOTL S2-E7: Planned Chance

Planned Chance My intent was to dive into Part 2 of my “End of Melody Episode,“ but by planned chance, I rolled the dice and came up with something completely different. Unplanned, but fated to be this way? Possibly. Almost all improvisation is built upon a kind of...
07/31/2020: To Compose or Improvise?

07/31/2020: To Compose or Improvise?

TRE Jazz Quartet Live 1999 by Peter Saltzman To compose or improvise. That’s the question? Composing and improvising are often thought of as two sides of the same coin. Composition, we say, is written down improvisation. Improvisation is spontaneous composition....
07/29/2020: Trippy 1980s Vibe

07/29/2020: Trippy 1980s Vibe

Uncollected Pop (Volume 1: 1988-1991) by Peter Saltzman My son, Emanuel, loves the trippy 1980s vibe of this tune. And indeed, when I recorded it back in 1988, that’s what I was going for. Well, not so much the 1980s part as the trippy part. I do love creating...
7/27/20: Short Songs that Feel Complete

7/27/20: Short Songs that Feel Complete

One Human Minute by Peter Saltzman Short songs that feel complete, that don’t feel like a prelude or set up to something longer are a challenge. Does this one, from my album One Human Minute work? Methinks it does. But then again, I’m using the word...
Track-of-the Day: Indeterminacy

Track-of-the Day: Indeterminacy

07/26/2020 This track, from my Kabbalah Blues/Quantum Funk (2000) is a kind of -free-for-all study in musical quantum weirdness. Although it is tightly structured around the two themes stated right at the beginning, there are a lot of semi-random clashes between the...
Song of Wrongs (by Saltzman)

Song of Wrongs (by Saltzman)

Visualize Abruptly Changing Tempos  Surreal Space The abruptly changing tempos and pitches in Peter’s piece have a huge effect on how I move my brush. It might have been nice to have hit strokes on those high pitched chords but I like what happens with the red lines...
7/28/20: Long-Form Free Improvisations that Feel Short

7/24/20: A Highly Melodic Improvisation

This is a good example of highly melodic improvisation. It comes from the first volume of my ongoing and occasional series, Piano Diaries. The challenge for me is to create accessible, relatable improvisations that don’t sound like new age, smooth jazz,...
IOTL S2-E6: The End of Melody, Pt. 1

IOTL S2-E6: The End of Melody, Pt. 1

Melody. As a creative musician, you’re either born with it or not. Or maybe everybody is born with it but some choose to suppress it. Why would anybody do that? Whatever the reason, non-melodic music almost always lacks narrative. This is true whether it’s...