Solo Piano

In "Solo Piano", Bill Brennan captures an atmosphere. Evocative of a northern landscape, it is the music of wide-open spaces, filled with mystery, drama, and stillness.

After more than 20 years in the Canadian musical scene — and more than a few contributions on the international stage — pianist, percussionist, composer and producer Bill Brennan has just launched his first solo recording of original piano music.

Brennan’s exploration of the piano takes him through four previously composed pieces and six new improvisations, captured during a weekend recording session at the D.F Cook Recital Hall, Memorial University. Meditative, lingering, and highly personal, Solo Piano lays bare Brennan’s sensitivity to the environment around him; the people, interactions and rhythms of life. It’s a contemporary new music recording, with a definite nod to European-style jazz.

“I wanted to concentrate on what I feel is me,” Brennan says. “Trying to just listen to where my heart lies, the connection to the music in my soul.”

Bill Brennan’s work can be heard on more than 90 albums — classical, Irish, folk, contemporary, rock, pop and world music — to date. He’s worked with the National Ballet, the Canadian Opera Company and CBC’s Vinyl Café; and composed for David Suzuki’s The Nature of Things, award-winning theatre and Hollywood films. Brennan has performed across North America and around the world: Austria, Germany, France, Japan, Norway, the Czech Republic, England, Scotland, Portugal and Switzerland.