This Kawai baby grand piano was just sitting in the terminal at PDX. The security guard said that sometimes they paid performers to play on it, but otherwise it was available for anyone to play. My family and I had a couple hours before our plane left, so my dad and I ended up playing for almost an hour! We did some pieces we knew, but we also improvised a lot. This is my first improvisation on that piano.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: RSS

I was recently on the Oregon coast for a family reunion, and on our last day, some of us spent some time in Portland. To my delight, we found not one, but two public pianos to play! The first was part of the Piano Push Play project, and was installed outside the Portland Art Museum. It was a gorgeous day, and it had the feeling of the Boston Street Piano project all over again. This is the recording I made there. One of the keys had a missing hammer (and therefore couldn’t play) – can you tell which one?

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: RSS

My partner and I visited my dad and his wife last weekend. He had recently gotten his baby grand piano back, after living in small apartments for a few years. It was sweet to re-familiarize myself with it. I spent hours practicing on it when I was in high school.

I woke up on Saturday morning, and before anyone else was up and about, I started this recording. You will hear Dad in the kitchen making breakfast at the end.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: RSS

A little over two years ago, my grandmother passed away. I played at her memorial service, as well as many other times that weekend. Here’s a recording I made when I was warming up on the stage where we were going to hold the service. 

She played piano as well, and I spent a lot of time that weekend poring over her music books, and reading her notes in the margins. I grew up on the other side of the country from where she and my grandfather lived, so I didn’t get to see her very often. It was very cool to be able to learn more about who she was, and to discover similarities I didn’t realize we had.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: RSS

I made this recording right after the last one, again with the Sony PCM-M10. It’s a bit longer.

Because of a very busy work schedule over the past few months, I’ve had a hard time finding time to even play piano, let alone record. It was really nice to be able to sit down and make these tracks.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed

Subscribe: RSS