Fast Jump
Danny Holt is a pianist who is genuinely obsessed with adventurous new music, and this disc captures him exploring that obsession with total abandon. Drawing inspiration from diverse sources, the music on Fast Jump delights in blurring boundaries and exploring sounds from a 21st century vantage point where Debussy, Philip Glass, and Harlem stride playfully commingle.
At the center of the disc are two major new works for piano: memory pieces, by New York downtown legend and Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang (of Bang on a Can), and Fast Jump by emerging American composer Lona Kozik. Ingeniously crafting incredibly direct expression out of small units of rhythmic and gestural material, Lang’s memory pieces is an explosion of rhythm, process, color, and the juxtaposition of gentle subtlety and dazzling, aggressive sonic activity. Fast Jump, Kozik’s set of etudes and interludes, is maddeningly virtuosic. With nods to Bartók, Debussy, Ligeti, and Glass, these pieces span the gamut from serene, impressionistic textures to aggressive fits of rhythmic energy, always with a keen sensitivity to rhythm and groove.
The disc also includes Relent by British composer Graham Fitkin, a barrage of non-stop intensity from start to finish. Works by Canadian composer Jascha Narveson and New York based Caleb Burhans round out the album.
Danny Holt performs across the globe in concert halls, clubs, art galleries, churches, living rooms, and wherever else he can find a piano and someone to listen. Known for his no-holds-barred style, he has been called “the classical music equivalent of an extreme sports athlete” (The Record, Waterloo, Ontario) and Los Angeles City Beat named him one of the “local heroes” of L.A.’s music scene. He specializes in performing contemporary works, 20th century music, and obscure and neglected repertoire from past centuries, often juxtaposing diverse styles to create unexpected sonic flavors.
A specialist in contemporary music, he has held fellowships at the Bang On a Can Summer Music Institute, the Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall, and New England Conservatory’s Summer Institute for Contemporary Performance Practice, and he has worked with such composers as Steve Reich, Louis Andriessen, Christian Wolff, James Tenney, Graham Fitkin, David Lang, Michael Gordon, Augusta Read Thomas, and Michael Finnissy, among others. Holt has received awards and grants from ASCAP, Yamaha, the American Composers Forum, the Yvar Mikhashoff Trust for New Music, and others.
