Glenn Stallcop's new solo piano album ponders the nature of both time and memories. While the album is concerned with the endless, patient passing of time, Stallcop has focused on three silent or nearly silent clocks and three groups of memories.

It's an interesting subject to tackle, especially when you consider Stallcop's ponderings on memories:

"Memories, though caught in an ever expanding and receding universe of reality, can seem to be fixed, as if forever yesterday. Though the details can become blurred, they are always emotionally vivid. The truly memorable events are always just beyond our reach. They are like bench players, always ready to substitute for the real players that become increasingly tired or flawed. This duality of how time is and how it is remembered provides the tension for the whole album..."

The tracks are alternated between time and memories - with the "time" segments ('Sundial'; 'Hourglass'; 'Water Clock') revolving around instruments designed to reflect the passing of time, while the "memories" tracks ('Old Flames'; 'Young Children'; 'Old Friends') are used to convey Stallcop's emotional response to certain subjects that can provide very diverse thoughts when looked back through the mists of time.

It's subjective as to whether or not you can match the track with the subject - but that doesn't matter as this is more about what inspired Stallcop on each segment. You don't really need to know this, but it's interesting to get an insight into his creative mind.

The album contains 6 tracks (46 min, 31 sec), but be aware that Stallcop's compositions are modern and lean towards improvisational music - which won't be to everyone's tastes. But if you're a fan of free flowing piano based classical music then there's much to enjoy here.

8

Darren Rea