Album Notes

SENSES is a collection of solo piano dreams and improvisations composed and performed by Australian pianist Monique diMattina.

\"You need not leave your room.
Remain sitting at your table and listen.
You need not even listen, simply wait.
You need not even wait, just learn to become quiet, and still, and solitary.
The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked.
It has no choice; it will roll in ecstasy at your feet\"
- Franz Kafka \'Senses\'

Sounds like?
Lili Boulanger, Philip Glass, Gabriel Faure, Keith Jarrett, the silent sea, the quiet of being.

Composed?
By Monique.

What for?
To feel peaceful and awake, clear and clean.

Who is Monique?
Reflecting influences spanning Bach through early New Orleans Jazz, Blues/Roots, Singer-Songwriter land, French Impressionism and silence, Monique diMattina\'s music has been heard at Jazz clubs and festivals all over Australia, New York, Europe and Asia.

While at high school in Melbourne Australia, Monique filled her mathematics timetable with music lessons in piano, Irish harp, clarinet, saxophone, bass and drumkit.

After a B.Mus and B.Litt at the University of Melbourne, diMattina was awarded a Fulbright scholarship to complete her Master of Music in New York City.

The time she spent in NYC was fun. She played lots of jazz gigs including recitals for Bill Clinton, Kofi Annan and Vaclav Havel, developed a taste for salmon/dill bagels and heard loads of music while waiting tables at the Village Vanguard.

The terms of the scholarship included that she return to her native country to share the good news about the U.S. of A., so she eventually did this.

Back in Australia Monique wrote more music, played more gigs, received Queens Trust, Australia Council and Potter Cultural Trust grants, travelled a bunch and worked at getting back to NYC.

She now lives in NYC with a lovely piano and her daughter Soleil.

Through her independent label Elwood Records Monique has produced and played on 7 CD\'s, including..

\'Monique diMattina Live@55 - Drinkin Music for a Drinkin Bar\'
blues based originals recorded live at the 55 Bar, Greenwich Village 2002

\'diMattina/Swann Live@JZ\'
a swingin jazz piano set recorded live at the JZ Jazz Club for the Autumn Moon Festival, China 2006.

\'Senses\'
Delicate solo piano dreams, compositions and improvisations