Jazz

Liz Story Speechless

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Liz Story - Speechless
1988
Sony Novus Label

Story studied classical piano while growing up in Southern California and even thought about becoming a music librarian or theorist for a while. Then she heard jazz pianist Bill Evans at a New York club, and the experience changed her perspective on music overnight. Story, who had studied at Juilliard and was enrolled at Hunter College at the time, abandoned her academic program in favor of jazz lessons with Sanford Gold, a teacher Evans had recommended. Back in Los Angeles, she continued her musical education at UCLA and the Dick Grove Music Workshops, but it was a job playing piano at a French restaurant that sparked her major breakthrough as a composer. Since the front casing of the piano was missing, Story had no place to put her sheet music and was forced to improvise freely. Eventually, she put some of her spontaneous compositions on tape and sent them to Windham Hill. Within four days, Will Ackerman had called her back and the contract was signed for her first release, Solid Colors, an album of impressionistic piano miniatures. Over the course of five recordings, including a two-album stint with RCA Novus, Story's style has expanded to include electronic duets with Mark Isham and works for various types of ensembles, yet the piano remains the prominent voice in her finely crafted compositions.

1. Forgiveness
2. Frog Park
3. Welcome Home
4. Hermes Dance
5. Speechless
6. Back Porch
7. Vigil

Story's second and final recording for RCA Novus is a return to the solo piano realm after her forays into arrangements involving other instruments on her previous two releases.

This was the second CD that Liz released after leaving Windham Hill. She had just released two gread albums (Solid Colors and Unaccountable Effect) and Sony, quick to see a musical trend in the making decided to launch their New Age Novus label by hiring Liz away from Windham Hill.

Since her stay with Sony only lasted for two CDs and after that they pretty much went out of print, some of these tracks have been lost for 20 years.

This CD is one of her best, but it is rather hard to find.


Side note. I saw Liz on a tour when she was with Sony. She was basically the opening act for another Sony recording artist who happened to be female. The other lady was a singer songwriter and as it turned out a really good one too. I went to the show with my wife and while waiting in line to get in I noticed that I was the only guy in the crowd. Audience of maybe 300 or 400 or more and I really am thinking I'm the only guy here. Then I notice that while I am the only guy I can see, WE are not the only "couple". Turns out the headliner for the show was some lady who was very famous in the Lesbian community so the entire audience, except for my wife and I were gay! It was a hoot. Liz came out and did her show and had to change some of her on stage banter (replaceing 'boyfriend' with 'partner' when she introduced "Without You" for example). I'm really not too sure how Liz reacted to being sent out on a tour where she was lumped in with a gay artist and sent to crowd after crowd of gay audiences. They were responsive, but none of them seemed to have heard of her before and the promotion for the concert was all about the headliner. Not long after that tour, either she left Sony of Sony left her and she returned to Windham Hill and relase "Escape of the Circus Ponies" two lears later.

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