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Blue Oktober

by Greg Mills

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1.
Sonata For Two Pianos: 1.Fanfares for the Uncommon Man 02:02
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2.
Sonata For Two Pianos: 2.Etude Fantastique 01:07
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3.
Sonata For Two Pianos: 3.BerSuess 03:04
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4.
Sonata For Two Pianos: 4.Enclaves 02:24
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5.
Klavierstucke 1 10:26
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6.
Blue Oktober 05:29
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7.
Suite For 3 Pianos: 1.Spiral Ascent 02:04
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8.
Suite For 3 Pianos: 2.Formation I 03:36
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9.
Suite For 3 Pianos: 3.Attack! 01:52
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10.
Suite For 3 Pianos: 4.Formation II 02:16
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11.
Klavierstucke 2 03:24
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12.
Secret Passages 02:03
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13.
Bursts Of Central Command 02:19
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14.
Arcs/Arks 01:58
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15.
Tactical Textures 01:14
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16.
Formation III 04:33
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17.
Epilogue For 4 Pianos 01:37
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about

Improvised music for piano: solo, duos, trio multi-tracks and percussion: Blue Oktober exists beyond style, genre or influence, a musical syntax self-referential in the most creative sense: a private personal language everyone knows. Dazzling keyboard technique in the service of daring passionate communicative improvisation. Intelligent and compositionally sophisticated. Tears It Up! Lays It Down!


"Blue Oktober presents a set of 11 pieces that explore various properties of the piano. On the three pieces for multiple pianos, Mills has recorded an improvisation then overdubbed the remaining pianos on top of that. It creates an impressive, dense web of music with sounds passages colliding and careening nimbly off each other. The title track explores the inside of the piano. He also appears to be using a cymbal (or gong) with a bow placed inside or near the piano to get rich resonating textures. 'Formation III' also uses percussion but here it's overdubbed. On the solo pieces Mills demonstrates a technical mastery of the keyboard as well as two-fisted rhythmic drive. All in all Blue Oktober is an impressive recording of contemporary Piano music that straddles the line between free jazz and contemporary classical piano music. But it sells neither element short."
--Robert Iannapollo, Cadence, Oct 2007

"Mills is a technically gifted architect of the Steinway, a classical grounding manifest since the first moment one hears him playing...This record, too, is a magnificent example of clever improvisational craft...The listener can be gratified either by an attentive, concentrated examination of the material or by keeping it at lower volume while maintaining the same sort of enchantment, such is the sheer delight originated by the mere presence of those gorgeous runs, clusters and designs which — even in the knottiest sections — seem to be influenced by a touch of romantic melancholy. This is what attributes a unique voice to Mills, a hitherto obscure talent that must be brought to wider attention worldwide, a veritable rejuvenator for those who feel tired of listening to problematic albums just for the sake of belonging to certain circles of (a)pathetic intellectualism. This stuff reconciles with life by respecting the true aim of music: something that's played from the heart, received by sensible human beings, able to elevate them that tiny bit indispensable for carrying on through the mental and emotional poverty experienced daily. Something that's plain beautiful."
--Massimo Ricci, Temporary Fault, 28 Sept 2009

credits

released January 1, 2006

Greg Mills' Piano is a Kurzweil PC-88.
"Inside Piano" is a Steinway baby grand.
These track are recorded live performances.
Overdubs were done in one take on the multi-piano pieces,

Recording and mix: Jay Zelenka
Cover art: H. Annie Ortbals
Cover art remix: Jay Zelenka
Design: Tony Patti
Produced by: Jay Zelenka/ Freedonia Music

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all rights reserved

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Freedonia Music St. Louis, Missouri

Freedonia Music was born in 2006 to promote Creative Improvised Music.
Offering a
catalog of archival performances and contemporary recordings of New Music from the heart of the heartlands. Music to wake up your ears!

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