#WHISPERINGS SOLO PIANO CONCERT FULL#

Tell us about the piano and your recording equipment. KP: Joe, your piano and recording studio seem to be poised for super-stardom. Our biggest day yet was just this last January. We stayed in that spot until just a couple of years ago when we stopped directing listeners to the Live365 player and started using our own player instead. In those early days, Whisperings was broadcasting using 's broadcasting tools and within eighteen months we were the #1 broadcast on Live365's entire network. The station immediately found an audience and within just a couple months I was inundated with CD submissions from piano artists for the show. So in 2003, with about 15 artists onboard, Whisperings started broadcasting. Once I had the basic broadcast up and working, I contacted the dozen or so pianists I knew at the time, told them what I was doing and asked them if I could put their music in rotation with mine. The name just seemed to fit the style of music I wanted to convey. So, I decided to create my own and called it 'Whisperings' after the title of one of my CDs. In the early 2000's, there really weren't any Internet radio broadcasts around that played my style of music. I was getting quite a bit of radio promotion through traditional broadcast radio, but not much on Internet radio. Joseph now often refers to me as “squid boy” because of my passion for good calamari! He was a trooper and tried it after some jolly bantering from Joe Yamada and myself. It took everything we had, and Joseph and I really felt our age the next morning! At the restaurant, we introduced Joseph to calamari (squid) for the first time. Luckily, a couple of guys jumped in and helped us. Rebecca jumped behind the wheel while Joseph and I got behind the car and pushed it back uphill to the gas station. Within a block of the restaurant, my car ran out of gas - DOH! We had just passed a gas station about a hundred feet back. Everyone was in awe!Īfter recording Rebecca Oswald and Joseph Akins, we all headed out for dinner to meet up with Joe Yamada and Amy Janelle. There was a magical glow, like an aura around him for about ten minutes, and he played right through it. The sun was setting and shining through the bay window behind him, onto the piano and through David’s silver hair as he played. It was actually the world premier of Painting the Sun and the first time David had performed any of the songs from that album live. JB: David Lanz’s song “Lover’s Tarot” was recorded live at a Piano Haven concert in June 2009. KP: Working with that many artists over a period of time must have generated some great stories. When we came back, Greg had recorded the entire album! My “Tears of Joy” is the same take from my Somewhere Within album. Wayne Gratz was here, too, so he and I left for the afternoon. He decided to stay here an extra day and record his whole The Journey album. The same with Christine Brown’s “A Sunset’s Promise,” a one-take masterpiece! Greg Maroney’s “Prayer for the Planet,” my personal favorite, was originally recorded for the Whisperings CD. He was here earlier in the year recording Solo Piano for Peace, which was largely improvised. Louis Landon’s “Seattle Morning” was one. JB: Just a few pieces were from other albums. Are the pieces on the compilation the same as the ones on the albums, or did all of the artists do fresh takes?

#WHISPERINGS SOLO PIANO CONCERT FULL#

I know several of the featured artists have recorded full albums at Piano Haven Studio. KP: Thanks for that, Joe! David and I are often listening for different things, so there is no need for competition! =) He has a great ear for piano music - possibly the best - next to yours of course, Kathy : ) I think David agreed with almost all of my suggestions! I have learned a lot from David over the years. I indicated my personal favorites and we discussed our options. After the sessions were complete, I collected the tracks and sent them to David. When dealing with talent of this caliber, you KNOW you’re going to get some great tracks! Nobody was guaranteed a spot on the album, nor did they know which song would be chosen from the four to six pieces each artist submitted. David suggested pieces that were either very popular on Whisperings or favorites of his, but each artist ultimately got to decide what they would record. JB: We had each artist record a number of songs. I think the pieces that were supposed to be on the album made it easy - they seemed to choose themselves. DN: Sometimes we picked our favorites and sometimes we chose the songs that fit in best with the other selections.

Whisperings solo piano concert