Grand Pianoramax
Post Jazz / Electro Clash / Future Funk
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Winner of the first Montreux Jazz Festival International Piano Solo Competition, Swiss born, NY-bred pianist Leo Tardin conceived Grand Pianoramax as an all-live keyboards/drums with occasional guest vocalists. Among the collaborators that contributed to Grand Pianroamax one can mention first-class NYC drummers Deantoni Parks (The Mars Volta, Meshell Ndegeocello), live drum’n’bass pioneer Jojo Mayer, Adam Deitch (Talib Kweli, Pretty Lights) and current drummer Dom Burkhalter. On vocals, an impressive rotating cast of US underground hiphop legends and poets have lent their talent to the project, including Mike Ladd, Black Cracker (Cocorosie), Invincible (Platinum Pied Pipers) and Mr. Lif.
Grand Pianoramax’s first CD, a self-titled effort, was released worldwide in 2005 by ObliqSound. The album generated more than 43,000 downloads via iTunes USA and top-notch reviews from both sides of the Atlantic. The second album, The Biggest Piano In Town, was released worldwide in 2008, generating rave reviews and features in publications including BPM, XLR8R (USA) Metro, Time Out London, (UK) l’Uomo Vogue, Blow Up (IT). DJ Spinna’s remix of the album’s single “The Hook” was released on vinyl shortly after. Grand Pianoramax’s third album, Smooth Danger, dropped in Europe in the fall 2010 and will be released in the USA on April 2011, supported by a US tour in May 2011 including a live showcase at SXSW.
Primarily a live project, Grand Pianoramax was recently on a 10-city tour in the USA opening for funk legend Maceo Parker at legendary venues including the Fillmore in San Francisco and the Roxy in Los Angeles and frequently performed in NYC at renown venues such has Joe’s Pub and Canal Room. The band also extensively toured in Europe in major cities as well as more eastern destinations including Istanbul and Mumbai (where two tracks from “Smooth Danger” were recorded).
OF SMOOTH DANGER:
Smooth Danger is the third installment from Grand Pianoramax, the Berlin-based duo comprised by sonic alchemist/keyboard visionary Leo Tardin and drum modernist Dom Burkhalter. The album takes a bold step into 21st century experimental electronica through a vociferous ingestion of culture that's then reborn into the world as a masterfully cut-and-pasted vision. Devoid of borders and subversive in execution, Smooth Danger is a warped sonic affair, partially recorded in Mumbai, India and largely influenced by the Berlin underground.
Its tweaked analog textures created with spindly keyboards, battered Wurlitzers, rewired Moogs, skewed grand pianos and a drum kit, along with the voice of rappers, poets and other left of center artists, including guest appearances from tabla player Karsh Kale and spoken-word artists Mike Ladd and Black Cracker. This is music that breathes new life into the molten concrete of the megalopolis. The post-modern burn scar, the morose melting pot of a generation who sit and stare at the world in the second before it vanishes.
Download Smooth Danger.
