Meditations on Present Time
Built around a series of twelve field recordings paired with multiple layers of piano accompaniment, the aural narrative of each environmental recording defines the structure of each piece. Musical transitions are based on ebbs and flows in the layers of sounds within each field recording. The process of composition is first a process of listening.
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Groove
Der Pianist D Bayne reagiert mit anderen Mitteln auf das was draußen passiert. Meditations On Present Time (Luminescence) fügt minimal repetitive Klavierimprovisation zum Chicagoer Straßenleben – wenn die Straßenbahn kommt muss er härter in die Tasten hauen um noch wahrgenommen zu werden.
Frank P. Eckert
Groove
7/15/2015
Whisperin and Hollerin
Whereas many ambient albums are concerned with creating mood and forging a subtle sonic backdrop to life and the world in some way or another, Meditations on Present Time sees Bayne use the ambience of life as a background to his contemplative instrumental pieces. Taking field recordings captured in a range of locations, the tracks reflect very different types of space. From the bustling human traffic of ‘The French Quarter’ to the trickling breeze of ‘Chapel Rock, Lake Superior’...
Christopher Nosnibor
Whisperin and Hollerin
6/24/2015
KindaMuzik
In de grote hal van Amsterdam Centraal staat een vleugel. Daar pingelen amateurs wel eens aandoenlijk een deuntje op, maar vaker sta je versteld omdat iemand die echt kan spelen het klavier beroert. En dan blijf je toch even stilstaan om eens goed te luisteren. Of je neemt zo'n flard fraaie muziek mee als je door de gangen loopt of in de trein stapt. Het lijkt wel of D Bayne (ja, om de een of andere reden zonder punt) een stel microfoons opgesteld had op CS....
Sven Schlijper
KindaMuzik
6/22/2015
Amusio
Der vielfach ausgezeichnete US-amerikanische Komponist und Pianist D Bayne lädt auf seiner aktuellen Veröffentlichung Meditations On Present Time (Luminescence Records) anhand von Field Recordings und locker interagierender Klaviermusik zu zwölf Spaziergängen durch Chicago, New Orleans sowie den National Lakeshores in Michigan ein. Ob er sich dabei mit urbanen Transportwegen, natürlichen Landschaften oder dem Flair des French Quarter auseinandersetzt, wird in den Linernotes zwar exakt beschrieben, doch die Wege, die seine Kompositionen einschlagen, bleiben offen genug, um dem Hörer eine Verknüpfung mit der Wahrnehmung der eigenen Außenwelt zu ermöglichen...
Stephan Wolf
Amusio
6/17/2015
Blackaudio
...Scenes are played out as an observation piece where Bayne sits back and takes in his chosen environments. Occasionally he wanders and encounters random folk singing in the street, as well as the hustle and bustle of daily life; and piano keys slow and pick up the pace when it is required...
Tony Young
Blackaudio
6/9/2015
A Closer Listen
...Bayne’s travels take him from city to shore, café to ferry, and wherever he goes, he hears the environment as music. His natural gift is to bring out the inherent musicality of these sounds by enhancing them with notes, in the same way as spices can help to enhance the flavor of food. One of the album’s finest passages arrives a minute into “East Washington Street at Night,” as the piano responds to the chaos of the streets before finding its rhythm and echoing it once again. On Meditations on Present Time, a blur occurs not only between field recording and music, but between artist and subject as well...
Richard Allen
A Closer Listen
5/18/2015
John Chuprevich
Gravel parking lot, rainfall, listen to Meditations on Present Time, hear car wheels roll, footsteps, an umbrella opens, raindrops dripped down from early Spring oak leaves strike the windshield and roof, only then may one's imminent environment join, through the stereo, the reverie of D Bayne's transcendence.
John Chuprevich
4/26/2015
Downtown Music Gallery Newsletter
...Although this is a recording of solo piano, there is much more going on. Mr. Bayne carefully blends in aleatoric sounds to the written or improvised parts, adding a sly sonic seasoning that evokes ghosts or spirits. Notes echo or sustain while a car passes by, a distant radio or static add a sense of mystery... The background ambiance changes on each piece as does the placement of the piano in the foreground or background... kind of like wandering around a dream or maze of scenes. Highly recommended if you want to transported somewhere else.