RICHARD BARBIERI EP

PAST IMPERFECT / FUTURE TENSE

Bandcamp are waiving all fees to artists for downloaded music today (20/03/20). With no channels other than online for musicians to make a living at this difficult time, this is a helpful gesture.

Here is 36 minutes of new, old and live music.Thanks for your support.

1. FLARE (9.07) is a new piece intended for the next solo album. It’s still in a state of flux with new ideas and arrangements emerging. So here it is frozen in time on 18th March 2020.
It’s intended to serve as link between the “Planets & Persona” album and my current material, so I’ve integrated some performances from past recordings alongside new ones.

Luca Calabrese - Trumpet
Gill Morley - violin
Kjell Severinsson - drums
Richard Barbieri - keyboards, synthesisers, percussion programming.

2. 81 SEQUENCER RUN (4.34) is an oddity that I really don’t know what to do with. It reminds of 1981 Japan and YMO themes but with a more sequencer driven feel. I guess I’m including it here because I still want it to be heard even though I can’t imagine including it on the next album.

3. BREAKING THE SILENCE - live (4.08) First ever live performance of this at St Paul’s Church, Birmingham 2019. The sound engineers were unfortunately not up to the job and as a result this whole show has only mono audio. I’ve spread the audio a little with some additional reverberation and delay but this is essentially a lo fi recording. Nevertheless it’s an old Jansen / Barbieri ambient track that many wanted to hear live. Please forgive the dodgy chord entrance to the middle section and some of the less velocity sensitive piano hits.

4. SHUT DOWN / BALLERINA / RIME (19.04) I wanted to devote a section of the Birmingham concert to some quite dark, electronic and ambient improvisation. I used the titles above from my “VARIANTS” series as a backdrop for this purpose. I’m not sure if the audience found it hard going or not but I particularly enjoyed this “medley”.
Lisen Rylander Love (Voice / FX / Kalimba) joined me for the last section of this and her looped choir improvisation at the coda is beautiful I think.