On Karen's Piano

Only days before she passed away Karen and her partner Peter ventured along to a small show of mine in Collingwood. Peter told me she had requested a certain song. 

Before the interval I glimpsed the two of them walking towards the exit onto the busy Johnston St. Karen was clearly struggling. She couldn’t last the distance.I stopped what I was playing and managed a segue into Karen’s request. 

The relationship between artist and listener had never been so acute as in those 5 minutes. “Wash the Pain Away” was the song. I sang it as well as I could muster, Karen gave me a gentle nod, she leant on Peter for support, like they were folded in together, and they both walked slowly into the night.   

A couple of years after the funeral, Peter asked me to make a record in their living room on Karen’s piano in honour of her. 

I spent two days of recording in the suburbs at Peter & Karen's house, the low angled winter light pushing through the window. Karen’s piano is a Bechstein that was once owned by Barry Tuckwell. We brought in microphones and gear especially for the purpose of a live living room recording. I recorded about 35 songs - some turned out better than others, ten will be on the vinyl, an extra seven will be on the  digital. 

Lots of pauses, touch and sustain, lots of room to let the notes ring out, tried to be relaxed. 

The songs on the vinyl are:

Preamble, Poke along Slowly, Can’t Find Love, Thomastown, Breath, Wash the Pain away, I've got a plan, The Gossip, Salt, More Heart Than Me, Old Wobbly Man.

The extra digital tracks are:

Happy As Can Be, Travel Shop Window, Madang Panic Attack, Home on my own, Talk about love, Fire Turns to Embers, Sunshine on Leith.

I’ll launch it it at the Jazz Lab in Melbourne on May 17th (link in live section) and at my other shows around the traps this year.

Karen was of Polish heritage.

Muzyka to przestrzeń pomiędzy nutami

Music is the space between notes