​The Unfolding Of Wings was a personal quest to become more the composer and pianist I’ve always wanted to be!

(I don’t have any formal classical training, and my career commitments made it difficult for me to practice or development my personal style.)

It starts with my favourite Chopin Prelude in C Minor. It’s a piece I’ve always wanted to play, but not as a funeral march – which is how it is often described. Instead I’ve tried to emphasise the magnificent chord progression. The album ends with this piece and my own variation based on it. (The Variation features on its own in the middle of the album).

There are plenty of new compositions, and two that were written for my nephews in the early 1990s… finally finished and recorded: Dance The Rains Away (for Rob) and Ballad For The New Born (for David).

There are three new serendipities, loosely following the style and quirkiness of Erik Satie’s compositions: Girl On A Swing (No.4), Silhouette By The Sea (No. 5), and A Watchful Gaze (No. 6).

I’m often inspired to write by wonderful people in my life. Apart from pieces for my nephews, there are tracks for

– My two grandchildren in Australia: Fox and Silver, written for Griffin and Poppy.

– My talented wife Elaine: For Elaine and Valentine Dance.

– And my brother: Catch The Day.

Sadly someone special passed away while I was working on this album: Largo – For The Departed.

Places are a great source for compositional ideas. The Tranquil Warmth Of A Winter Sun was inspired by the marvellous gardens at Sissinghurst in Kent on a glorious, sunny January morning.

The Darkened Room was one of those pieces that emerged from the idea of a room with its shutters closed taking on a rather eerie, hidden look.

Finally, I was asked to contribute a track for an album called Piano Reflections Vol. 1. It was a time when there were terrible fires raging across Australia; I was thinking about the damage humans wreak on our fragile home, and I wrote For Planet Earth. There is a slower version of this track on The Unfolding Of Wings.

Each track has a slightly different mix or sound – chosen to fit its mood and style.

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