Today I’m introducing you to the composer Jean Bell and his track Luna. Jean is originally from Panama, but have also lived in Norway. He is now located in France. Jeans is a self-taught multi-instrumentalist and composer.

The track Luna was released as a single on the 2nd of July, 2021.

Tell us something about your track Luna!
To write Luna, I took a different approach to my previous releases and wrote the way I usually write pop songs on guitar.I wanted to write a minimal, soft piece. Almost a lullaby, with a simple but strong, catchy melodic line. Each note well-spaced out, allowing them to breathe and reverberate.This reminds me in some ways of a quote by Mozart: “The music is not in the notes but in the silence between”. I think that sometimes, for some songs, less is more, and I think that’s the case with Luna.For ambiance and to add a touch of melancholy, I used a good amount of reverb; I think it adds a dreamy texture to the track. Cinematic feel as well.But above the musical theory and technical aspects of songwriting and recording, the most important thing to me is how the song makes me feel as I’m playing it while writing. If you use instinct, the song will evolve naturally. Almost magically into what it is meant to be.The melody and overall feel must move me and awaken emotions, otherwise, it is not telling me a story.

Thank you very much for this Jean!

Today I’m presenting you with another great track by the British composer and piano player Steve Luck from Newcastle upon Tyne. You can read a lot more about Steve and his music here!

The track Small Songs of Hope was released as a single on the 29th of June, but will also be part of an upcoming album in October, 2021.

Tell us something about your track Small Song of Hope!
Most of my music explores the boundaries between melancholy and hope. I love mixing major and minor chords in close proximity. This piece is the archetype for the style of music that will be released on the album. It’s a piano miniature, slow paced and played on my felted Kawai upright piano. Hopefully the listener feels a sense of poignancy, tinged with a little bit of hope. Thanks for listening.

Thank you very much Steve!

Today I’m introducing you to the Latvian composer and piano player Aija Alsina and her track I Hope You Live. Aija comes fram Riga and has played the piano since the age of six. Aside from playing the piano; Aija has also played the bass guitar in several indie- and rock bands! Currently Aija is focusing on modern classical composition work for film, commercial and standalone releases.

The track I Hope You Live is the first single from the upcoming album Creation to be released later in 2021. 

Tell us something about your track I Hope You Live!
“I Hope You Live” is the first single and also the track that opens the whole album (and closes too, but an EDIT version of it), thus following a journey from the moment you find out you are expecting, until the day you meet your little one. It is difficult to separate one composition from the rest of the album, as the whole is based on a very personal experience. Like never before, after becoming a mother myself, I have become sensitive and emotional towards all the child-related pain in the world. “I Hope You Live” therefore is the composition that best conveys my worries and hopes, and is dedicated to all the women who struggle to become mothers, to every lost unborn or born child, and to every unloved child. My heart goes out to them. 

Thank you very much for this Aija!

Today I’m presenting you with the composer and piano player David Shoults and his moniker River Camille with the track Elevate. David was born in Calgary in Canada but is now located in Halifax where he works as a full time musician and indie label owner.

The track Elevate was released as a single on the 30th os June, 2021.

Tell us something about your track Elevate!
I wrote and recorded Elevate in the spur of the moment in one take at 2am a couple of months ago. Due to COVID, it has been nearly 2 years since I have seen my mother, the person in my life who has elevated me more than anyone else. I harnessed that emotion to create Elevate, a song about longing, love, and gratitude.

Thank you very much David!

Today I’m introducing you to the track You in Midair by the very secretive composer and piano player Norse Mythology. I’ll leave it to him/her to explain!

Norse Mythology is a project that explores the magnified sound world of piano. The project debuts with a calm, meditative neoclassical piece. Inspired by the theme of loss and disconnection, You in Midair is an intimate piano record that soothes and binds. The title comes from the lyrics of Frank Sinatra’s classic Send in the Clowns: 

Me here at last on the ground
You in mid-air
Where are the clowns?

In the current state of affairs, the sense of loss is familiar to many people. The piano can breath hope into our senses, can alleviate our wounds and inspire us. Recorded on an upright Yamaha, this simple piece resonates with our deep needs of reconnection and intimacy. A soft and slow piano melody leads thought a series of smooth chords and dreamy harmonies. The major key evokes elation and optimism through repeated iterations of the theme. I hope this record will inspire hope, delight and peace to the audience. 

Thank you for this lovely track!

Today I’m presenting you with the track Ada by the British composer and piano player Emma Jackson. Emma lives in London and is drawn to making music to help calm the mind.

I think the world we live in is a very busy and stressful place, and we could all do with having a moment to breathe and release from our day, no matter what our situation is. 

The track Ada is released on the album Piano Mindfulness 2, which was released on June 24th, 2021.

Tell us something about your track Ada!
This is my track called Ada. I recorded this track over the Christmas lockdown at home, and had fun sticking tennis balls, strips of paper and curtain chains in the strings to create a unique sound to the track! Whether you close your eyes, light a candle, or play it to help you study, use this track to help calm and focus you. Enjoy!

Thank you Emma!

Today I’m introducing you to the track For Jordy by the American composer and piano player Evan Wise. Evan comes from a small town in Texas with just 400 citizens and fought hard to go to the university where he could study music. He now lives in Los Angeles and writes music for television and movies.

The track For Jordy was released on June 2nd of 2021.

Tell us something about your track For Jordy!
My latest release For Jordy is a love letter to my daughter Jordy who is due in September of 2021. I am extremely excited to become a father and I wrote this piece thinking about sharing it with her as she grows up. I muted the piano by draping a baby blanket over the strings and the result was a lovely warm lush sound. I also extended the use of the damper pedal to create some more interesting atmospheric sounds once I heard how clear the recording was becoming, although I have gotten some criticism for the ambience. But as traditional as my music can be I like to include an off kilter element because it reflects my personality and is poetic to my philosophical beliefs.

Thank you very much for this Evan!

Today I’m introducing you to the American pianist and composer Tewksbury from Hamilton, Canada. Tewksbury has been a musician for his entire life even though this project is fairly new.

The track Sitaantaago Elegy is taken from the album Paths, which was released in June 2021.

Tell us something about your track Sitaantaago Elegy!
The song ‘Sitaantaago Elegy’. It comes from the Sitaantaago Glacier (more commonly called the Mendenhall Glacier) in Juneau Alaska.  I was lucky to spend a few weeks in Juneau in Alaska, this place that feels unreal how big and empty and raw it is, housesitting for a friend, and my daughters and I went hiking almost every single day while we were there.  

Seeing a glacier in real life is stunning, and you’re never really prepared for it, since it makes you reflect on time, and your place in this time on the earth. The Sitaantaago Glacier is in accelerated retreat due to climate change, and as you hike in to it, you pass rock cairns that mark where the glacier was at different times in history – 1700, 1800, 1924, 1956, 1988.  It’s retreated 2.5 miles so far, so you keep experiencing how large it once was as you, yourself, move through space. It’s stunning, and dire, and within a few decades the glacier will be gone.  It’s sobering to experience a thing that is almost certainly already dead.  In this song, I wanted to write a farewell, and to say goodbye with a beautiful moment. It’s a dark place to go, but I see beauty in it, and I hope that people who hear this song do, too.

Thank you very much for this!

Today I’m presenting you with a new track by the composer Eamonn Watt from Shetlands Islands. You can read more about Eamonn and his music here!

The track Flow was released as a single on the 25th of June, 2021.

Tell us something about your track Flow!
Flow is a piano single inspired by an image of someone sailing down a gentle flow of a calm river, it’s a super soft track that’s great after a long hard day of work and you just need to relax. It was all hand-clicked using the MIDI Editor on Cubase and uses the Imperfect Samples Fazioli Grand Piano for the soft, piano sound.

Thanks for this Eamonn!

Today I’m introducing you to the Irish composer and piano player Tehlarissa and the track Little Cove. Most of Tehlarissas family are musicians so the music has always been present.

The track Little Cove was released as a single on the 18th of June, 2021.

Tell us something about your track Little Cove!
Little Cove is inspired by some of the beach coves near to where I live in Galway in Ireland. I always find the sea to be a big influence in my writing. It’s such a strong and brutal force, but when water appears in coves it takes on a completely different character and becomes gentle and subtle. I tried to recreate that feeling my in track.

Thank you for this Tehlarissa!