You awake… your mind is clear, your breath is easy, and your eyes and ears are wide open. There is a sense of calm and certainty as the promises of an amazing and reflective day start streaming in. This is how I would describe the first few measures of “Off the Main Road” from Joe Holt’s “Stories Without Words” — an offering of original solo piano works by the jazz pianist. Pure, imaginative, and strikingly beautiful stories are being told here.
This collection of stories is a concept album of sorts in that Holt’s idea was to record without an agenda (other than the end product be one of free improvisational expression)… to trust that the music would come through him in this state of “stillness and trust” as Joe explains in his liner notes. However, the concept goes beyond that.
Joe is well known for his ability to mix genre, seemingly at will. This genre mixing is part of the story telling, and evident throughout. Story (track) 2, “After the Rain” evokes the emotions and sensory perceptions of that soft experience. On “My Old Car” one feels both the pleasure and folly of cruising in your jalopy about town. In the 5th story, titled “If Only…” one can hear a range of musicality – from Debussy’s expansive harmonic range to the contemporary sensibilities of George Winston. In “Mice in the Grandfather clock,” there is the sense that generations of mice are relating past events through flavorings of Bach, Chopin, and Joplin… quite clever.
My favorite selections, however, are those like “Pensive Optimist,” “The Sultana’s Wake,” “Migration,“ and “Familiar Path” for their pure originality—not borrowed, not re-imaged—just music coming straight from Joe Holt’s heart to the ears. “Wait Your Turn” seems like the most pleasant wait I could ever imagine. If we could all experience waiting with such clarity.
I liken this listening experience to “taking-in” great abstract art. There is color and the appearance of form, and if you look at the titles to these musical tracks you will see that there is a muse, but we each see our own stories; have our own impression of the ale being told. We start to own it or perceive it in a way that may be very different than the story the artist intended to tell. But that, I think that is exactly what the artist is getting at here. Truth is like that… and so is story telling.
If you are a fan of Joe Holt, or any number of contemporary solo piano works you will want to add “Stories Without Words” to YOUR collection of stories. You too will find yourself off the main road.
– Jeff Davis
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