New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Tyler Ray Johnson, piano virtuoso extraordinaire, has released a double disc long playing record entitled "Twenty Four Keys." The album is a staggering feat by any estimation or standard, containing approximately seventy five minutes of playing time over twenty four tracks, each of which Johnson calls a key. By calling each of these compositions a 'key,' Johnson has contributed his work to a very long standing musical tradition: for hundreds of years composers have published their music in sets of twenty four numbered selections, one for each major and minor key of the scale (Bach, Chopin, Rachmaninoff, and Shostakovich are but a few composers who have done likewise).
The fact remains, however - and shockingly, stunningly so - that Tyler Ray Johnson has not "composed" these songs in the strictest sense. Each of the tracks on "Twenty Four Keys" is absolutely improvised. To be clear: these gorgeous inventions are short recordings of what the artist is capable of every time he sits at his instrument to play.
"I've been developing this style of improvisation lately," writes Johnson. "The style is mixed with new age harmonies and rhythms that make the listener feel like they're going somewhere."
And go somewhere the listener does. His notes trill upward and trickle downward, spiral and tipple and occasionally soar, although for the most part, this set of recorded performances is well-suited for a calming atmosphere.
"This is an easy listening album," says Johnson. "This album is a new aspect of music for me in the sense that it's all improvised, but I still consider these compositions."
Johnson has been playing since the age of eight and has studied various schools of music theory in Paris, Los Angeles, and at the San Francisco Conservatory of
Music respectively. He has won numerous awards and accolades and performed live with many legendary artists around the world. He has since left off schoolwork in order to develop himself as a soloist.
The music fan can do no better for an introduction to this magnificent artisan than "Twenty Four Keys." It will certainly not and by no means be the last release we hear from Tyler Ray Johnson.
The double LP "Twenty Four Keys" is distributed globally by MondoTunes (www.MondoTunes.com) and is available at iTunes or www.top40-charts.com for convenient purchase and download
website: www.tylerrayjohnson.com or www.top40-charts.com
