The artists featured on piano1, the label section1’s new compilation dedicated entirely to solo piano compositions, were given two guidelines: piano has to be the main instrument, and the piece must not feature any vocals. Artists like Kelly Moran, the acclaimed pianist and composer whose contribution opens the vinyl version of the album, are used to experimenting with the natural sound of the instrument, weaving a dance between emotion and technique. But for others, like Japanese singer-songwriter Ichiko Aoba and Hand Habits’ Meg Duffy, whose primary instrument is the guitar, the project posed an interesting, even mysterious, challenge. Listening to piano1 is an opportunity to hear musicians with varying relationships to the instrument explore a simple prompt that incites a curious mix of comfortability and complexity: Danish artist ML Buch translates her hypnagogic dream-pop on ‘Getting to Know Each Other’, fiddling with a grand piano’s clean precision; Brad Oberhofer captures a dusty, wistful intimacy; and ambient veteran Laraaji’s piece is intricate and playful, less inclined to slip into dreamy territory. But while it conjures a range of moods that speaks to its diversity of talent, piano1 is wonderful to sink into as a whole, an invitation – as it was for every contributor – to slow down, drift off a little, and perhaps start remembering.
We asked some the artists featured on piano1, which is out today, to talk about their earliest memories of the piano and how contributing to the project reignited or deepened their relationship with it. Check out their responses and listen to the album below.
Laraaji
My earliest experience of the piano was through the church at the age of ten, when no church service was in progress, and I was alone with the piano. I would explore it with enthusiasm. My mother lovingly acknowledged this and invested in an upright piano for the house as well as piano lessons. This support started me on my quest of mastering improvisational music through the piano. Today, my expression ability through the keyboard is greatly developed, and one of my favorite musical expressions through the piano is spontaneous improvisational waltzes.
Hand Habits
My earliest memories of piano: a dusty piece of furniture, out of tune, intimidating, music locked away and inaccessible behind technique and knowledge. The piano was the place where the embarrassing family photos live. An altar for wooden santas, candelabras, last week’s junk mail. The piano was a mystery to me… a place where melody doesn’t quite sound right.
In college, I dreaded piano class. I got lost in all of the lines and spaces that seemed to exist beyond all margins. In February of 2023 I was asked to perform two of my songs on the piano at Carnegie Hall. During this time, I took lessons and started very very slowly developing a comfortable yet still mysterious relationship with the piano. I was shown the deep and unfurling realm of resonance, the fixed voicings only found in one place per octave, the sympathetic colors that seem to endlessly blossom and chance beneath my touch.
I’ve always primarily written and composed on the guitar and have spent most of my life monogamously with guitar as my channel. I still feel intimidated by the piano, but this composition has inspired me to explore the complex simplicity that this instrument has to offer. Being a part of section1’s compilation motivated me to compose from a place of curiosity and follow my ear.
Brad Oberhofer
I have surprisingly few early memories of piano, given there was always one in my living room growing up. I briefly took lessons around age 8 in Tacoma, WA. My teacher smoked a ton of cigarettes and collected dollhouses. There were several dollhouses and miniatures around the living room where I took lessons. She had this bizarre and magical aura about her, on top of being an incredible pianist and teacher. She was a deeply kind and empathetic person, with a toughness about her. She occasionally taught lessons out of her parents’ house, who were both concert pianists. Her parents were collectors, too: covering the walls of their home – which struck me as grand and castle-like when I was young – with dozens of pendulum clocks. To exist there was to witness a fragment of my teacher’s strange and mystical childhood. When my lessons ended, I could experience that spectrum of strange clocks, chiming differently in unison.
Contributing to this compilation has resulted in my first ever solo piano piece pressed to vinyl, and I can only imagine that if my childhood teacher were to hear me playing solo piano on a record, she’d be proud.
The Kimba Unit
My earliest memories of the piano would be in the beginning of high school (I was a late bloomer) trying to copy and learn songs from D’angelo, Prince, Stevie… that family tree. This project made me more comfortable with simplicity. There’s infinite things you can discover about yourself and your craft when you bring restraint into your practice.
Alan Wyffels
I have been playing the piano for as long as I can remember and it has always been my main outlet for creativity, curiosity and self-regulation. When I sit down to play the piano it’s never with the intention to “write a song” – I just play. The seeds of the piece I contributed to the piano1 have been floating around in my improvisations for many years. But given the assignment I was motivated to flesh out the ideas into some sort of beginning, middle and end.
Matthew Tavares
My earliest memory of the piano is when I went to a group piano lesson with my mom. I was 4 years old and I absolutely hated it. I didn’t go to another lesson until I was 9 when I suddenly wanted to try again and I fell in love with the instrument. Even though I owe my whole musical career to the piano, I haven’t really thought about it much the past 5 years. I play here and there but it hasn’t been the focus of my musical life. Sometimes I forget I can even play the piano lol. When I do play it’s normally improvising pieces and recording it on iPhone, which felt like the most natural thing to contribute. Getting asked to be a part of this project made me remember that one of the deepest relationships I have is with the piano, I had simply forgotten.
