David Cieri - Little Dusk
David Cieri was raised in a musical environment from a very early age. His mother, Mary Jo Horton, was a concert pianist at the age of twelve. By the time David was born, in 1974 in Philadelphia, she was an accomplished harpsichord player, performing concerts all along the eastern seaboard. Steeped in the ideas offered by J.S. Bach, Tchaikovsky, Beethoven and Brahms, David was taught the importance of a firm musical foundation.
This structural and regimented beginning allowed for David’s individual musical voice, imbued with space and freedom, to encompass a formidable reference. Structures shifted as David progressed from ideas exemplifying tight boundaries in traditional harmony to ideas enriched with improvisation, texture, space and spontaneity. Exploration of the insights offered by Schoenberg, Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Cecil Taylor, and Thelonious Monk gave way to a unique fusion of Classical, Romantic and Baroque music with avant-garde jazz improvisation.
A third stream was created which informs David’s musical approach today. Composing pieces for solo piano as well as constructions for a variety of instruments has now been his focus for many years. His first record, comprising a collection of his own compositions, entitled “The Goat and the Violin”, was released in January 2007. This recording embodies his thoughts at the moment and captures the mystery of the present while remaining acutely aware of the traditions of the past and actively alert to the shape of the undrawn future.
