Tracklist
 01 | Introduction | 0:31  |
| 02 | Tamarack Pines (George Winston cover) | 5:00 |
| 03 | Raymond Blue 2010 | 5:53 |
| 04 | Longing… | 6:34 |
| 05 | Variations On A Blue Waltz (based on a Bo Moonlight’s piece) | 4:05 |
| 06 | The Monster Still Lives… | 1:48 |
| 07 | The Illusionist | 12:50 |
| 08 | Ramifications Dans L’Escalier Du Diable (György Ligeti cover) | 6:11 |
| 09 | La Boîte Secrète | 4:53 |
| 10 | De Luces y de Sombras, Parte II: A lo Inalcanzable | 3:31 |
| 11 | De Luces y de Sombras, Parte III: La Brecha | 6:30 |
| 12 | Waltz and Nocturne In C# Minor (Frédéric Chopin cover) | 4:19 |
Previews
Details
First release in September 2011. My third and last project of that prolific year.
«Album recording of a historical concert in José Travieso’s career, held on August 28th, 2011, at the Red Room Auditorium, New York City, as part of the Annual Congress of New Composers and Modern Artists. For over an hour, José Travieso returns to the piano, revisiting old and new pieces, performing new compositions specially created for the event and, finally, paying tribute to both past and contemporary composers for whom the innovation has always been a driving force».
This album was presented with this description, but –despite the applauses, coughs and other ambient sounds– it is not a live album. It was my main project of 2011, which I had been composing and recording during the previous 10-11 months.
When I finished the «No More Faith» LP (2010), I considered the idea of recording a new solo piano album that would cover three areas: 1) new music; 2) re-written older works; and 3) a tribute to composers I admire. At first, I weighed several options: recording a conventional studio album with all these elements, or maybe releasing separate EPs for each topic, or perhaps focusing on just one of these topics and leaving the others for the future… After a few of weeks working on the project, I thought about the option of making a conceptual false live album –first not too seriously, but later I concluded it would be a very good way to present all the material I wanted to gather, while also transcending music as art to create something bigger, something like “meta-art”. Thus, «The Illusionist» conceptual project was born.
The concept was to present a live album but including some hints –in the recording and in the booklet– with the idea of leading subtly the listener to realize it was, in fact, a false live album. If the listener “won the game”, then they would reach an internet address explaining the entire concept of the album in detail, with the possibility to download a “naked” version of the album («The Illusionist (The Real Thing)»), without added ambient effects, text and so on.
Today and here, at this point, it is irrelevant to go on with the secret 🙂
Some clues:
-The abum title.
-A phrase said at the end of the track #11 (“The reality is that being here has been an illusion”).
-The not-so-North American pronunciation of Alice Morgan in the introduction of the album/concert (she has an English name but a strong Spanish accent).
-The name of the theatre (“The Red Room Auditorium”… «The Red Room» was one of my pieces released that year).
-In the booklet you can see two images related to the theatre, but if you look in detail you’ll notice they are from different places.
-The audience, far too big for an underground musician like me!
To make the fake concert more convincing, I wrote a few fake short news about it on my website (after the concert date, of course :-), but I left some contradictions in the information and context when compared with other (real) news there.
Definitely, it was fun to make an album from this perspective 😉
After releasing this album, I decided to take a break from my music for a while (I was creating very intensely for a few of years and needed to stop). Eventually, this became an indefinite rest –or rather an abandonment– that lasted almost three years (except for some isolated works).
Track #2 is a version of an original composition by George Winston.
Track #3 is a new version of the piece released on the «Tres Piezas para Oídos Distintos» EP (2002).
Track #5 is based on an original piece written by Bo Moonlight, titled «Blue Waltz».
Track #6 is a brief piano version of the piece «The Monster», released on the «No More Faith» LP (2010).
Track #8 is a version of György Ligeti’s original composition «L’Escalier du Diable».
Track #9 is an extended revision of music released on the «La Boîte» soundtrack (2011).
Tracks #10 and #11 are new versions of pieces released on the «De Luces y de Sombras» LP (2003).
Track #12 combines two pieces originally written by Frédéric Chopin: «Waltz Op. 64, No. 2» and «Nocturne Op. 72, No. 1» (a version, functioning as an interlude).
You can download and get this album on Bandcamp.
