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Rob Schwimmer--Solo Piano at Fazioli Salon (NYC) 3/28/07

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Rob Schwimmer will be performing solo piano selections from his new CD “BEYOND THE SKY"
The Fazioli Salon @ Klavierhaus
Wednesday, March 28th, 2007 -- 8:00 PM $15
211 W. 58th St.
New York, NY
(212) 245-4535



“Rob Schwimmer's legendary keyboard talents are often appreciated in his hometown, New York, NY. But the rest of the world rarely gets a glimpse of his astonishing artistry--until now. Beyond The Sky will give you a nice dose of Rob's amazing pianistic skills, his incredible improv abilities, his compositional brilliance, and his Theremin chops. This is exquisitely beautiful music, worthy of deep listening."-- Ernie Rideout, Keyboard February 2007

“Beyond the Sky is fantastic! In every way--writing, playing and pianistically. Dynamically. Lyrically. I could go on... Congratulations, you're killin', man!"-- Michael Brecker, Grammy winning jazz saxophonist/composer

“Meaningful, intelligent and evocative music--Not to mention great piano playing! “--Paul Simon

“Utterly unique...Virtuoso in the extreme...One of a kind...Such great surprises! The structures are so thoughtful and complete...I couldn't wait to hear the next track...The most imaginative version of Stormy Weather I've ever heard...The world deserves to hear you!"--Leonid Hambro, renowned classical pianist/ competition judge

“This solo piano exploration (Beyond The Sky) by Rob Schwimmer is full of passion and love...his execution and ideas flow with a beautiful sense of freedom that captures you from his first phrase to the last!" --Joe Lovano, Grammy winning jazz saxophonist/ composer

“Not only is Rob Schwimmer one of my first call piano players, he's also a great artist in his own right. His compositions, technique and interpretation all come together on Beyond The Sky--Some of the best piano playing I've ever heard!" Arif Mardin, legendary producer/arranger Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award

Piano virtuoso Rob Schwimmer is an original and intrepid artist who on this album meaningfully negotiates the composer's formalism of classical music and the improviser's freedom of jazz, blurring distinctions between both disciplines. While Rob has worked with some of the top artists of our time his own music has been elusively hard to come by. While playing with all the aforementioned artists exhibits great versatility, it does little to prepare one for the singular strength of his own personal musical vision.

Schwimmer's is a music of inclusion, both wry and ruminative, romantic and avant garde, minimalist yet expansive. The depth and breadth of Schwimmer's musical and imagistic vocabulary reveal an understanding of the entire keyboard tradition both in his compositions as well as his use of improvisation. That it sounds like a personal vision and not a cross-cultural collision is testament to his rhythmic instincts and harmonic curiosity, his touch and articulation, the manner in which he is able to summon up in the course of a single passage, let alone an entire piece, a vision of the piano's wide-ranging stylistic and structural expanse.

From his Suite, in turns virtuosic, inward-looking, and evocative of another place/time, through the wistful Two Songs Without Words, the mysterious little dances and prismatic distortions of his Four Miniatures, the explorations of tonality, contrapuntal freedom, and conversational interplay of Three Tone Poems, the quiet intimacy of Prelude and Postlude, the passionate theremin/ piano elegy Waltz For Clara and, finally, the lyrical bending and re-casting of four Hallucinations On Popular Songs, Schwimmer reveals himself a master musical storyteller.

ABOUT ROB SCHWIMMER

Rob Schwimmer is a composer-pianist and thereminist who has performed and recorded throughout the world.

His work is a meld of musical discipline, sensuality, technical acumen, and freedom--A combination that has made Rob's long overdue debut solo piano album Beyond The Sky so highly anticipated. His personal vision of music reflects a unique and probing sensibility combined with his vast experience in many genres with great and fascinating artists.

Rob was hand-picked to play keyboards, theremin and sing in the elite touring band for Simon and Garfunkel's “Old Friends" North American and European tours (2003-2004) and appeared in their CD/DVD “Old Friends: Live On Stage". He has worked with Wayne Shorter, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Paul Simon, Stevie Wonder, Willie Nelson, Chaka Khan, Laurie Anderson, Bette Midler, Queen Latifah, Arif Mardin (Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award), Adam Guettel (2005 Tony), T-Bone Walker, Sam Rivers, Marc Shaiman, The Klezmatics (2006 Grammy nominee), Matthew Barney, Ang Lee, Maria Schneider (2005 Grammy), Annette Peacock, Gwyneth Paltrow, Marshall Brickman (2006 Tony Nominee), Mabou Mines, Geoffrey Holder, John Cale, Steve Buscemi, Theo Bleckmann, John Stubblefield, Burt Bacharach, Edie Brickell, Teo Macero, Hal Willner, Vernon Reid, The Everly Brothers, Ethel, James Emery, Kurt Vonnegut, Anjani Thomas, Odetta, Drepung Loseling Tibetan Monks, Joseph Jarman, Alwin Nikolai/ Murray Louis Dance Company, Henry Jaglom, Talujon Percussion Quartet, Fred Anderson, Mark Ribot, Frank London, C&C Music Factory and Sammy Davis Jr.

Rob's appearances as guest soloist with orchestras include The Little Orchestra (Lincoln Center); the New Haven Symphony Orchestra (Yale); and Red, An Orchestra (Cleveland.) He has played venues all over the world including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, 92nd St. Y, the Concertgebouw (Amsterdam), Madison Square Garden, The Blue Note, CBGB's and the Colosseum (Rome) before a crowd of over 600,000.

He is a founding member of the highly acclaimed Polygraph Lounge music and comedy duo with multi-instrumentalist Mark Stewart (Bang On A Can Allstars). Other collaborations include his Theremin Noir (CD) with Mark Feldman and Uri Caine and The Zmiros Project (CD) with Frank London and Lorin Sklamberg. Rob is an original member of the NY Theremin Society.

His compositions have been featured in theater, television series and movies, documentaries and feature films.

Rob Schwimmer is one of the few theremin virtuosos in the world. In addition to Theremin Noir, he has performed as featured theremin soloist for many projects including Matthew Barney's epic movie Cremaster 3, CBS television series, Now and Again and A&E's Breakfast With the Arts.

Schwimmer's work can be heard on CBS/Sony, Warner Brothers, Toshiba/ EMI, Def Jam/ Island, Manhattan/Blue Note, Dorian, NHK, Capricorn, Evidence, Knitting Factory, Polystar, Traditional Crossroads, Dreamworks SKG, Universal Pictures, TriStar Pictures, HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, CBS, NBC, ABC, Discovery, Lifetime, Noggin, A&E, NPR and Nickelodeon.

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