Album Notes

"Screenplay" is the exciting new CD by Yrsan Daro, his third in the last four years. As we've come to expect, and as the title suggests, we're presented with a wide-screen cinematic landscape of textures, moods, and exceptional melodies. Anchoring the album is Daro's musical signature: scintillating, virtuoso piano work. On his previous CD, "Beyond the Edge of Time", the piano was subordinated to otherworldly synthesizers and lush orchestrations. On "Screenplay", we have a fresh new set of arrangements, using both contemporary brass and traditional woodwinds interwoven around the keyboard lines. Several of the tracks also incorporate hard-driving percussion propelling the musical action forward.

"Screenplay" boasts a wide range of genres, including jazz, blues, and even a rousing Celtic tune in Ossian 23. This is one of two solo piano works on the disc, the other being the aptly titled Interlude, as it provides a quiet melodic respite following the frenetic revelry of Allosaur Jamboree. As in a film, each track builds upon the previous episode, evoking complex pictures, characters, and a full range of action and events.

"Screenplay" contains some of Daro's edgiest new work, as he continues to push the boundaries of the expected, with even classically simple structures being transformed by his highly original musical vision.