Today, April 7th, is the official release, by Relative Pitch, of my new album, Soledad. It's a solo album of music composed by the late nuevo tango composer, musician, and bandleader, Astor Piazzolla. I first saw Piazzolla perform in 1987 with his quintet, and that moment changed my life in quite a few ways. Since that night, I had always wanted to record a solo album of this music which has affected me so much.
The album consists of five piece, four written by Piazzolla and one written by me. The piece I wrote is a duet with Michael Formanek on double bass.
The songs are:
Soledad
Invierno Porteño
Adios Nonino
Suite for Ahl
Tristezas de un Doble A
For those who think there are only two kinds of music, "country and western", this may not be for you. But if you have an open ear, mind, and heart, you might possibly enjoy this music - for Astor Piazzolla if nothing else.
Got my copy in today's mail and I'm on my 2nd listening. I wasn't familiar with Piazzolla so I checked out some of his stuff on youtube first. While I appreciate what a lot of free jazz, new music and experimental artists are doing, I usually can't listen to it for very long. It's a testament to Piazzolla's brilliant composition and Susan's remarkable playing that this recording is so captivating - even to a jump blues/swing guy like me. Really brings out the heavenly sonority of a well-played pedal steel guitar.
Hey Susan,
I ordered this last week and it arrived in the mail yesterday. Your playing is great and so are the arrangements (although I admit I'm not very familiar with Piazzolla). It's very inspiring and refreshing to hear something other than country played on pedal steel.
"Steel a little and they throw you in jail, Steel a lot and they make you King."
