George Colligan - Nation Divided [CD] (ONLINE ORDER ONLY)

In his first solo piano release for Whirlwind - Nation Divided - George Colligan takes a lead from Duke Ellingtons quoted notion that this is not piano. This is dreaming.

The Portland-based pianist and multi-instrumentalist is known for numerous sideman appearances on the bandstand with names such as Jack DeJohnette, Larry Grenadier, Don Byron, Cassandra Wilson, and can be found on over a hundred album recordings (including 2017s More Powerful - WR4708). But, as he elucidates, this is different: After a lot of trio and ensemble records, I wanted to get back to the piano to clear the air and represent my thoughts again in solitude. The whole session was captured in a single day by respected pianist David Goldblatt in his basement studio.

Finding a correlation between the written and the spontaneous, some of Colligans pieces are fully improvised, others through-composed, or they combine elements of both. I love Ellingtons idea that it doesnt matter what it is - its just dreaming, he explains. I like to let things happen, but on the road less travelled rather than the familiar; and in musical conversations with myself, I can take as many risks as I wish.

A recurrent restlessness in Colligans thirteen originals is validated by provocatively-named title track Nation Divided, its two different keys and motifs agitatedly attempting to link up but never quite making it.

Wounds Of Another Time / Closure / Between Two Worlds / Street Fight / Blues For Charleston / Nights Of Passion / The Strength To Move On / Nation Divided / Prelude / If Thats All There Is To Say / Cognac Logic / Sentimental Foolishness / Saddest Of All Keys

• Format Detail: CD
• Format: CD
• Genre: Jazz