Erik Satie - 3 Gnossiennes - John Wheeler, piano

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Hayseed singer John here. As the band can't currently tour, for reasons WAY beyond our own control, I've spent the past month recording a solo piano album of French impressionist drinking music, Y'all. Since these pieces were meant to be played in bars and cafes for wine and absinthe drinkers, I recorded them on an upright piano instead of a grand - the way the Good Lord intended! Just because this music is considered "classical" by some people doesn't mean it should be treated like some sacred museum piece that only stuffy elites can groove on. That's definitely not how or why this music was created.

These 3 pieces were written around 1890 in Montmartre, Paris by minimalist genius composer, wine & absinthe drinker, and downright mystic oddball, Erik Satie. Google the man if you aren't familiar with him. He was a bit of a dark gothic rock star around Paris back in his day.

I've tried to play all of these pieces with a bit of Southern American swing and swagger, with some smoky gospel blues feel in the grooves, rather than the more rigid and precise way most classical people approach them. This is, after all, nighttime drinking music.

So sit on your back porch. Turn the lights down low. Sip some wine. Sip some beer. Sip some whisk(e)y. Or hell, bang down a bottle of absinthe, and melt into the Gnostic mysteries of Being. Prost, Skål, Slainte!

From "Debussy and Satie: Intimate Upright Piano Series I" of solo piano recordings by John Wheeler. Here's a smart link to the complete album, multiple listening options!!!

http://listen.lt/JohnWheelerDebussyandSatieIntimateUprightSeriesVol1

#Satie #Gnossiennes #piano