Album Notes

Richard Trythall is a composer-pianist who is equally at home with the standard classical piano repertoire, with the music of "Jelly Roll" Morton and with twentieth century avant-garde music. His own piano compositions reflect all of his varied musical experiences combining his interest in new forms and expression with his love for the Romantic character piece and the Impressionistic tone-poem to create a music which is melodic and emotional, yet shaped in a contemporary and original manner. "Parts Unknown" was begun in 1989 and completed in 1991. This performance was recorded "live" by the "Fondazione ATOPOS" on December 4, 1999, in Pieve a Sietina, Italy. The CD was produced in 2004 as part of that Foundation's prestigious series of contemporary music recordings. The compositions are copyrighted by the composer. The sound recording is copyrighted by "Fondazione ATOPOS" (www.atoposmusic.com). Reviews of "Parts Unknown": "KnoxNews", Knoxville, Tennessee, April 24, 2005: In the 1980's and early 90's, Trythall began recording original "new romantic" solo piano pieces....Despite a folksy tinge to some of the melodies, Trythall's references were classical, but loaded with soul that could communicate to fans of any style of music... The songs (of "Parts Unknown") are denser and more complex, with an even more classical edge, but just as beautiful.(Wayne Bledsoe review of "Parts Unknown" and "Out of Bounds") "Il Tempo", Rome, December 11, 1991:...To this listener, Trythall's work resembled a multi-surfaced kaleidoscope of colors.... His style is, in fact, similar to a river which, in flood, tows away a variety of objects and things, mixing them with little coherence as in a dream vision where syntactic and lexical relationships are, by definition, loosened. It is an iridescent and many faceted game of musical images in constant alternation.... The German newspaper "Elbe-Jeetzel Zeitung" had this to say about "Night Rider": ...an impetuous, audacious piece... awakens memories of dense African percussion music. (Elbe-Jeetzel Zeitung, Schreyahner Festival, November 10, 1997)