Marking an important milestone in his career and stepping in a new direction, celebrated jazz pianist and composer Shai Maestro is set to release his first solo piano recording, “Solo: Miniatures & Tales”, via the French label Naïve Records on May 2nd. The album captures Shai Maestro’s growth as both a composer and an improviser, as improvisation has gradually come to play a bigger role for him as a musician. Shai explains, “The composition started functioning more as a starting point, rather than a final, polished product. More and more improvisation found its way into the music until at some point, we would never even play the song anymore.” By moving beyond composition as a safety net, he began to create more freely, letting his music unfold in unexpected and organic ways. “Solo: Miniatures & Tales” reflects exactly this, representing the contrasts between improvisation and composition, darkness and light, dissonance and consonance. The contrasts are further exemplified by the album’s division into two parts: Miniatures, featuring shorter, spontaneous improvisations, and Tales, which consist of longer, more intricate compositions.
“This is officially the beginning of a series of solo recordings that I plan to record and release as long as I can play. This is the first volume, capturing this moment in time and my relationship with the piano at this point. It will change a lot as I change as a person, and every few years, when the time is right, I will release the next volume of this series,” explains Shai Maestro.
To celebrate the release, Shai Maestro will perform an exclusive pre-release concert on April 10, 2025, at Kraftwerk Berlin, as part of FRAMED BERLIN’s debut event. The evening also features a solo balafon performance by Aly Keïta and access to WE FELT A STAR DYING, an immersive installation by Laure Prouvost.
More information here: https://framed.berlin/events/kraftwerkberlin