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Although
he is renowned for his expertise as a guitarist, composer, recording
artist and designer of the most unique carbon fibre guitars on the
planet, Kevin Kastning proves his worth once again, this time
as an improvisational pianist on, Piano 1, his
sixth solo album for Greydisc Records. Throughout the 9 track Piano
1, Kevin lives up to his reputation as one of the most ingenius
American talents on the 21st century worldwide musical scene. Throughout
his various albums, many recorded with his talented friends, like
Michael Manring, Carl Clements, Sandor Szabo and Mark Wingfield, Kevin
has always made recording quality music his top priority. Although
he has featured his recorded piano sound on earlier Greydisc albums,
including The Book Of Crossing (2012), A Connection Of Secrets
(2017) and in 2018 on the Ethereal 1 album with Sándor
Szabó, Kevin’s first completely solo piano album has his
trademark sound all over it. Long time followers of his recording
style and musical vision will easily detect Piano 1 as clearly
being an album very much true to Kevin's own style and influences.
Speaking to mwe3.com about Piano 1, the artist explains, “The
pieces on Piano I were all improvised, all first-take recordings.
I had an overall compositional concept and direction in mind for the
album, and constructed the pieces to fit into that.” Kevin
has clearly earned his standing among the most unique modern-day American
musical improvisers and Piano 1 album also makes a strong statement
of appreciation for the great pioneering composers of the past. Regarding
that last statement he explains, “The composers by which I’ve
been influenced for keyboard works would be quite a long list. Bach,
Schoenberg, and Bartok are the first that immediately come to mind,
but are certainly only the tip of that iceberg. Keith Jarrett’s
solo works have had a massive, tremendous impact on me for sure, but
far more on the guitar side of things than the piano side. I am not
trying to rethink classical music… I just recorded a few piano
pieces.” With its steady flow of convincing and compelling
musical ideas, all expressed by a singular artist performing solo
on the stately piano, Piano 1 takes Kevin Kastnings’s
career in a new and exciting musical direction. 
mwe3:
Why did it take so long for you to release an album of solo piano
and is Piano 1 the start of your new series of piano albums?
Were you getting positive feedback from your initial use on the A
Connection Of Secrets album and then decided to take the full
length piano album further?
mwe3:
What piano-centric recording artists were you most influenced by?
How about names like Jarrett and Corea and is there a precedent in
your mind about what kind of album you had in mind for Piano 1?
I read some interesting things on the 
Kevin
Kastning: Actually trumpet was my first instrument; I began that
at age 7 or 8. I started playing both piano and guitar around the
same time at age 10 or 11. I took formal lessons on guitar right away,
so that became my main instrument over piano. Though it was not my
main instrument, I studied piano formally when I was majoring in music
as an undergrad at WSU, and was required to pass piano proficiency
exams each semester. When I arrived at Berklee, I didn’t take
any piano classes, but did spend a good amount of time in the piano
practice rooms when I was there. All the compositions I was required
to do at Berklee were all written on piano. Piano has been my instrument
of choice when composing; all the string quartets and chamber pieces
I’ve written were all done on piano. I’ve always seen piano
as a compositional tool in my life. It’s only recently that I’ve
begun to consider it as a performing instrument.
Kevin
Kastning: That is one of my photos. It is a hill and forested
area near my house. I love watching the seasons change that hill.
The forest has a series of hiking trails, and I’ve gone hiking
there many times. The two smaller misshapen trees in the foreground
are significant. When I was trying to find cover art to fit this project,
I was working with some of the artists that have worked with Greydisc
in the past, amazing artists and photographers, but nothing seemed
to fit. I don’t like to use my own photography, but this time
that photo fit the pieces on the record quite well. And that scene
is very special to me; there is an emotional resonance there. The
gatefold photo inside the CD album cover is that same hill, shot from
the same perspective, but during a blizzard. Yes, this album was recorded
in winter. Two pieces in December 2017 during the recording sessions
for the album 30/36. The remainder were tracked in December
2018.