WAYNE ALPERN

MODERN MUSIC

Henri Elkan Music

Wayne Alpern, solo piano composer; Steven Beck, solo pianist.

This album features twenty short piano pieces, embracing various categories from traditional classical music forms to other dynamic genres. Wayne Alpern compares his compositions to “new wine in old bottles.”

“I aim for an aesthetic synthesis between old and new that invokes the authority and inter-subjective legitimacy of the past … and creatively to channel the freedom and indeterminacy of the present. In music, as in life, tradition need not be a shackle restricting creativity, but a torch that lights our path in the quest for originality and authenticity,” Wayne Alpern explains in his press package.

A song called “Prelude” spreads wings, moving from European classical music into a more contemporary arrangement.  This is followed by a tune called “Variations” that Steven Beck plays in a very ‘pop-ish’ way.

This album called “Modern Music” offers a fresh perspective on the synergy between traditional classical music styles and uses improvisation to infuse solo piano with jazz.  I hear a lot of the German composer, Johann Sebastian Bach’s influence in the music of Alpern. When I studied piano myself, Bach was one of my favorites.  This is particularly obvious during a tune called “Partita.”

Even though there is a great deal of improvisation written into these original compositions by Alpern, I would not necessarily call this jazz. Steve Beck is playing solo piano, interpreting the written notes on the page.  But real jazz leaves room for freedom and on-the-spot improvisation. For example, on a piece called “Fughetta” Alpern modernizes and reinvents a traditional eighteenth-century fugue.  He has added touches of contemporary jazz harmony, but it’s all written out in the score sheet.

“I composed it in music school at the University of Michigan nearly fifty years ago as a counterpoint exercise,” Alpern explained.

But this doesn’t make this tune or any of the others on this album jazz.  I would call this music beautifully composed, Easy Listening. This is an album showcasing the awesome talents of a very fine composer (Wayne Alpern) and the talented Steven Beck playing these beautiful solo piano charts.  I think adult-contemporary radio stations and Easy Listening radio will enjoy adding this album to their playlists.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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