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Elegant Enigmas (2020 Remaster)

by Daniel Biro

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1.
Imprint 40:50
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2.
Elegant Enigmas 12:05
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3.
Notturno o Mattutino 02:58
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4.
Aeolus (Bonus Track) 08:33
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5.
Orpheus (Bonus Track) 08:03
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about

‘Elegant Enigmas’ reflects my on-going passion for the Fender Rhodes electric piano. Designed in the forties by Harold Rhodes using airplane spare parts, and pioneered in the early 1970s by electric jazz artists like Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Joe Zawinul (Miles Davis used to shock his acoustic pianists by saying: "play this!”) but also Ray Manzarek, Stevie Wonder, Donald Fagen, Bob James, etc. Nevertheless, the Fender Rhodes has rarely been explored in a solo, experimental context. Ambient artist Harold Budd is one notable exception.

My love for this instrument has led me to investigate its sonic qualities and, hopefully, reveal some hidden riches. Because of its inherent mechanical imperfections and unevenness, each Rhodes piano has its own idiosyncrasies and peculiarities. Rather than try to suppress these I preferred to go along and use them as a continuous source of surprises.

I humbly dedicate this music to my parents.


Imprint

"...ricorda il tempo
Prima che s'indurisse la cera, Quando ognuno era come un sigillo. Di noi ciascuno reca l'impronta Dell'amico incontrato per via;
In ognuno la traccia di ognuno."
(...remember the time
Before the wax hardened,
When each of us was like a seal.
We all bear the imprint
Of the friend encountered along the way; In each of us the trace of each of us.)

- from a poem by Primo Levi

***

‘Imprint’ is a one-take improvisation with no edits which was immediately overlaied with two more complementary tracks. Being improvisations, there is not much more to say about the music except that I consciously tried to avoid any melodic or harmonic structures, allowing the Rhodes’ textural and timbral sonorities to lead the way.
Imprint is dedicated to all my teachers, official and un-official ones, and all those who have left their "mark". May the wax never set.

***

Elegant Enigmas

"L'enigme du visible et de l'invisible garde son elegance d'enigme" - Jean Cocteau (The enigma of the visible and the invisible maintains its enigmatic elegance).

It was a great honour for me to be asked by leading UK contemporary harpsichordist Jane Chapman to write a piece for her. My lack of familiarity with the harpsichord's capabilities made this a rather daunting task. Jane's enthusiasm and endless efforts to promote new music for the harpsichord gave me the confidence to go for it.

‘Elegant Enigmas’ is not so much a duet, in the sense of a dialogue between two voices, but more an amalgamation, where one instrument plays the role of extension to the other's sonic palette. A rhythmic process of interlocking echoing notes between the upper and lower keyboards of the harpsichord is interwoven with the Rhodes' ghostly mirroring interventions.

In order to explore more in depth the effects of rhythmic acceleration and timbral blurring, the harpsichord's range was limited to one octave, slowly expanding its pitches upwards and downwards from a central Eb, whereas the Rhodes was allowed to extend into higher and lower ranges. Shifting reflections, anticipations and feedbacks emerge, culminating in a final symbiotic unison.

***

Notturno o Mattutino

Apart from his magical Fellini soundtracks, Nino Rota was, as far as I know, one of the first film composers to use the Rhodes extensively in his scores. I remember being haunted by his hypnotic electric piano chords in Fellini's ‘Casanova’.

This, my modest tribute to a great composer, is based on another haunting melody taken from ‘La Dolce Vita’. The scene: a party of decadent aristocrats wandering aimlessly in the early morning mist amongst the statues and ruins of a Roman garden. My early childhood memories of Rome somehow resonate with this dreamy music.

***

‘Aeolus’ and ‘Orpheus’ are two ambient pieces I created as soundtracks for a couple of experimental short films. Although experts were used here and there I think they work as stand alone works. Both were made using multiple layers of just one instrument: a wooden flute for ‘Aeolus’ and Celtic harp for ‘Orpheus’.

© Daniel Biro 2020

Original album released in 1999
This is the definitive version edited and remastered by Daniel Biro.

credits

released December 20, 2020

Daniel Biro - Rhodes electric piano, flutes on ‘Aeolus’, harp on ‘Orpheus’
Jane Chapman - harpsichord on ‘Elegant Enigmas’
All music written by Daniel Biro except ‘Notturno o Mattutino’ by Nino Rota (published by C.A.M. srl) - arr. Daniel Biro
Produced and recorded by Daniel Biro in 1998-99
Image by Daniel Biro
Edited and remastered by Daniel Biro in 2020

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Daniel Biro London, UK

Composer, keyboard player, producer, improvisor, songwriter, sound designer who loves the Rhodes electric piano + analog synths and makes jazz-fusion / electronic / ambient / art-prog / experimental music. From solo projects to working with his bands Echo Engine and Mysteries Of The Revolution, to film soundtracks, Daniel's unique cosmopolitan sound is at the centre of his multi-faceted universe. ... more

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