How much do I like this CD? I play it at dinnertime!
author: Joanne Spies
Having listened a few times through, first I was struck by the poetry of the titles and the freshness of the playing. Then I noticed the power and depth of many pieces and yet another time appreciated the meditative quality felt throughout.
I can listen again and again and find new things; a nice feature of music that is authentic.
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Keys to the Inside takes you on an emotional journey
author: C Peters
When a friend sits down to tell you a personal story, whether it be a
story of joy, accomplishment, disappointment, or tragedy, you are
touched by the experience. This is the feeling you have when you listen
to Jane Buttar's CD. Keys to the Inside takes you on an emotional
journey. It is the pianist's story, and through music it is told with
sincerity and openness.
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Extraordinary music that rivals one of the greats: Keith Jarrett's Koln Concert
author: Connections Magazine. Peter Hawes, Staff Writer
MUSIC REVIEWS: NEW CDs by Peter Hawes.
Connections Magazine, Sum 2001.
It's fitting that the cover photograph of Jane Buttars' new CD places her, formally decked out in a red velvet dress, inside a piano. It's an appropriate metaphor for where she goes with this extraordinary work-- into the deepest reaches of her instrument, where she wrings out of it an astounding range of expression.
There's mystery, surprise, space, chromatic angularity, gentleness, juiciness, joy and unpredictability in Keys to the Inside. The listener will find quotes of a number of different musical styles, but you'd do well to prepare yourself for a trip that rarely touches familiar ground, even after a half-dozen listenings.
It's tough to believe that this is Buttars' first CD and it's even harder to fathom that the music was entirely improvised. It's polished and professional. It was impeccably produced and recorded, and the pieces are crisp, well articulated conversations that don't wander the way a lot of improvised music does.
Buttars' playing is patient and meticulous and her in-the-flow composition is "out there" in the best sense of the phrase-- unrestrained, unselfconscious and emotional at the same time it's clear and focused. Her touch is graceful and dynamic, her use of weight, elasticity and silence moving.
In a genre of music where some of the best efforts often wind up as wallpaper for dinner parties, soundtracks for yoga class or something sweet to drift off to sleep by, Keys to the Inside is a brilliant exception. Buttars uses tempo, silence and a vast range of emotion to keep her music front and center-- and the listener in a perpetual state of anticipation. It's fast become one of my favorite CDs and I'd stack it any day alongside one of improvised piano's greatest works-- Keith Jarrett's Koln Concert. Keys to the Inside is that good.
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