An Exploration of Past and Present

Welcome to ‘Dodd’s DSD Discoveries’, a review series from NativeDSD Senior Music Reviewer Bill Dodd. This series focuses on Bill’s latest selections, with new reviews regularly.

I was lucky. I grew up with a baby grand piano inherited from my father’s mother (see picture). I learned to play Bach, Gershwin, Kabalevsky, and others on it when I was a pre-teen. Very few people have either the space or funds for an instrument like that now. Musicians face a similar problem for home use and gigs, and usually decide on digital keyboards.

But here’s something new:

The Keybird! A lightweight acoustic piano! That’s it, on the album cover of this quite lovely album by Kristján Martinsson. It’s Danish, it’s affordable (compared to a normal piano), and it makes some very nice sounds. I’ll skip the details and encourage you to go to their website for more. Kristján Martinsson has some of the “add-on” features.

All that aside, this is a delightful album! Martinsson writes:

1035 is an exploration of both past and present, centered around a piece that is close to my heart—J.S. Bach’s Flute Sonata BWV 1035. Performed on the Keybird, a new lightweight acoustic “una corda” piano, this project breathes fresh life into the baroque sonata, blending modern interpretations, original compositions, and personal improvisations inspired by the master’s work.

It’s a bit of baroque, a dash of modern, and a smattering of jazz played on a remarkable new instrument recorded beautifully in a church. Don’t try to categorize it– just enjoy it.