Keep (it) Swinging: Michiel Borstlap - Blue: Songs from Father to Daughter

A musical homage to his newborn child .....
Hans Koert

Michiel Borstlap solo met eerbetoon aan Blue (Nederlands) Michiel Borstlap - Blue: Songs from Father to Daughter (English)

Recently a special solo album by Dutch jazz piano player Michiel Borstlap was released, entitled Blue - Songs from Father to Daughter. ( GPM 20111506).

Michiel Borstlap - Blue ( GPM 20111506) ( photo courtesy Eray Arpasin) ( Artwork: Christian Borstlap)
Music is, from an academic point of view, in fact nothing more then vibrations of the air ............. as simple as that! But if you enjoy listening to music, you will understand that it is more then that ...... Music is an emotion, an experience, that has to hit you. Music shares the emotions, the feelings of the musicians or composer - in fact, music should be labelled as a form of communication.

Michiel Borstlap ( photo courtesy: Eray Arpasin)
I had to think a

bout that, when I played Michiel Borstlap latest cd Blue. He recorded this album in the summer of 2011, dedicated to his newborn child Blue Aegea, who was born in June 2011 on the day that Erroll Garner should have celebrated his 90th birthday, if he still had been around, Michiel Borstlap is fascinated by the music of

this great piano player, Erroll Garner, who inspired him to compose the tune Oya's Blues. This tune can be found on the album as the 10th track, played by Michiel on the fender rhodes in stead of the piano.
The album contains almost a dozen tracks, all related to this new phase in the lives of Michiel and Ceylan, Michiel's wife - parenthood! Michiel labelled these tracks as Songs from father to Daughter. All these moments are never to forget, Michiel tells on the cover: That's why I choose this period to work on my new compositions. They are capturing exactly the way I felt. Searching for a sublime feeling, rather than a display of technical skills.

Michiel Borstlap (photo courtesy Eray Arpasin)
Enjoy the tune Blue, which was created during the sound check before a concert at the Blue Hall (what's in a name) of the Meervaart in Amsterdam - a great tune, which can be a model for the other tracks on this album.
I played this album several times last week and each time I enjoy its brittle inherent sounds ........ like in Lullaby or the opening track Summer Child. For me, this solo album Blue is a great homage to parenthood - an album that learns that Michiel Borstlap belongs to that select group of jazz piano players who know what's what.
Hans Koert
keepswinging@live.nl

Recently a special solo album by Dutch jazz piano player Michiel Borstlap was released, entitled Blue - Songs from Father to Daughter. The eleven tracks on this solo album are all dedicated to his newborn daughter Blue Aegea. A great album which learns that Michiel Borstlap belongs to that select group of contemporary piano players like Brad Mehldau, Jackie Terrasson and Fred Hersch. Keep Swinging loves to spotlight his music. If you won't miss any contribution, follow the blog at Twitter ( #Keep Swinging) or ask for the free newsletter: keepswinging@live.nl . If you love to be introduced to the most popular Keep Swinging blogs of the moment, make its Top Ten site its start point.