With No Nation But Imagination, British pianist Alexander Hawkins delivers a radical and fascinatingly complex work that may leave listeners wondering how its intertwining layers of piano, synths, harp, flute, drums, turntables, and samples fit together so naturally. Yet Hawkins — already proven capable of leading large ensembles (Togetherness Music) and engaging in adventurous duos with cellist Tomeka Reid, saxophonist Evan Parker, and vocalist Sofia Jernberg — continues to push boundaries, reshaping the language of modern improvised music through another ambitious and experimental undertaking.
“Solo Way Far Gone” opens the album in a restrained glide, its slightly distorted synth waves evoking obscure Sun Ra recordings.
Tag Archive: Alexander Hawkins
British pianist and composer Alexander Hawkins is one of Europe’s most innovative pianists, working in a variety of creative contexts and always constructing a unique sound world.
As a style-defining and imaginative voice in contemporary jazz, Hawkins provides further testimony to the art of his solo playing, six years after his last solo album (Intakt #330).
Song Unconditional is as playful as it is intense – firmly rooted in tradition, yet endlessly searching and adventurous.
Each of the 13 short pieces explores one or more expressive possibilities of the piano and are, in the words of Adam Shatz in the liner notes, “…marvels of compressed exploration.
To listen to them in succession, as they’re meant…