The Azure Miles Records Piano Improvisation Series represents an unexpected yet welome development. While my compositions and performances for meruvina are my primary music, these piano improvisations show another side of me.

When I first learned how Bill Evans refused to divulge his pianistic secrets to another player because he feared this would deprive that person of the enormously pleasurable (and perilous!) experience of developing a personal approach, I thought it was an excuse, and Bill was being miserly. Now, that impression has changed drastically. All it really takes is to actually spend consistent time playing the piano, together with nurturing one's musical spirit and knowledge through listening to and studying music with creative substance, to see that Evans was not joking. Most recently, the influence of Lennie Tristano, the teacher of my primary jazz teacher, Lee Konitz, arose spontaneously without any conscious premeditation.

Jocelyn, in her nineties, and owning an Steinway grand over a hundred years old, is the person who first asked me to play standards for her once a week, a custom that began my pianistic explorations, including her most kind encouragement. I've only played standards for her, this being her favorite music. Sometimes she sings along and often taps.

While meruvina composition and performance remains my primary musical avenue, improvising on the piano is engaging, too. Now, for the first time since childhood and teenage years, I actually have a keyboard at home.

Over Chicken Soup details some of my earlier piano playing. The first two paragraphs here are taken from Thank You Bill and Jocelyn.

- Michael Robinson, Los Angeles

© 2019-2022 Michael Robinson All rights reserved

Above the World (2023)

Azure Miles Records Piano Improvisation Series 39

Summer Skies (2023)

Azure Miles Records Piano Improvisation Series 40

Passion Eyes (2023)

Azure Miles Records Piano Improvisation Series 41

April Bright (2023)

Azure Miles Records Piano Improvisation Series 42

Summer Kisses (2023)

Azure Miles Records Piano Improvisation Series 43

Across The Sands (2023)

Azure Miles Records Piano Improvisation Series 44

Dark Is the Sky (2023)

Azure Miles Records Piano Improvisation Series 45

A Thousand Things (2023)

Azure Miles Records Piano Improvisation Series 46

Soul To Soul (2023)

Azure Miles Records Piano Improvisation Series 47

Found Joy (2023)

Duet recording with Anindo Chatterjee

Azure Miles Records Piano Improvisation Series 35

Those Sighs (2023)

Duet recording with Anindo Chatterjee

Azure Miles Records Piano Improvisation Series 36

Throng My Memory (2023)

Duet recording with Anindo Chatterjee

Azure Miles Records Piano Improvisation Series 37

Begin (2023)

Duet recording with Anindo Chatterjee

Azure Miles Records Piano Improvisation Series 38

A Lark Somewhere (2022)

Duet recording with Eliot Zigmund

Azure Miles Records Piano Improvisation Series 27

What Magic (2022)

Duet recording with Eliot Zigmund

Azure Miles Records Piano Improvisation Series 28

Runs To Sea (2022)

Duet recording with Eliot Zigmund

Azure Miles Records Piano Improvisation Series 29

Earth and Sky (2022)

Duet recording with Eliot Zigmund

Azure Miles Records Piano Improvisation Series 30

Each Caress (2022)

Duet recording with Eliot Zigmund

Azure Miles Records Piano Improvisation Series 31

A Dream or Two (2022)

Duet recording with Eliot Zigmund

Azure Miles Records Piano Improvisation Series 32

I Wouldn't Mind At All (2022)

Duet recording with Eliot Zigmund

Azure Miles Records Piano Improvisation Series 33

Decidedly Blue (2022)

Duet recording with Eliot Zigmund

Azure Miles Records Piano Improvisation Series 34

Joy Unknown (2022)

Azure Miles Records Piano Improvisation Series 21

Another World (2022)

Azure Miles Records Piano Improvisation Series 22

Color of Your Dream (2022)

Azure Miles Records Piano Improvisation Series 23

Gazing Down (2022) new release!

Azure Miles Records Piano Improvisation Series 24

Distant Bell (2022)

Azure Miles Records Piano Improvisation Series 25

Chance To Say (2022)

Azure Miles Records Piano Improvisation Series 26

In My Tree (2022)

Azure Miles Records Piano Improvisation Series 17

Past My Bed (2022)

Azure Miles Records Piano Improvisation Series 18

Nobody Told You (2022)

Azure Miles Records Piano Improvisation Series 19

June Night (2022)

Azure Miles Records Piano Improvisation Series 20

Wandered Around (2022)

Azure Miles Records Piano Improvisation Series 14

Eventide (2022)

Azure Miles Records Piano Improvisation Series 15

Blossoms Waiting (2022)

Azure Miles Records Piano Improvisation Series 16

Not Like Before (2021)

Azure Miles Records Piano Improvisation Series 08

Somebody Whisper (2021)

Azure Miles Records Piano Improvisation Series 09

Wonderful Schemes (2021)

Azure Miles Records Piano Improvisation Series 10

For A Whirl (2021)

Azure Miles Records Piano Improvisation Series 11

The City Sleeps (2021)

Azure Miles Records Piano Improvisation Series 12

Bounce the Moon (2021)

Azure Miles Records Piano Improvisation Series 13

Turning Rain (2021)

Azure Miles Records Piano Improvisation Series 07

Orion's Hour (2021)

Azure Miles Records Piano Improvisation Series 06

Stargirl (2021)

Azure Miles Records Piano Improvisation Series 05

Distanced (2019)

Azure Miles Records Piano Improvisation Series 04

Weaver's Loom (2019)

Azure Miles Records Piano Improvisation Series 03

Seventh Avenue (2019)

Azure Miles Records Piano Improvisation Series 02

Mystic Toy (2018)

Azure Miles Records Piano Improvisation Series 01

Here are related writings:

"Robinson continues to invent new forms of musical expression" (All About Jazz, April 2023)

Not Like Before: Michael Robinson's Jazz Without Borders (All About Jazz, March 2023)

"Robinson and Zigmund demonstrate impeccable synergy... " (All About Jazz, January 2023)

"...Robinson rolls out soulful refrains that build and intricate improvisation." (All About Jazz, June 2022)

"...Robinson operates on the threshold of fluidity and structure..." (All About Jazz, January 2022)

"A mix of originals and radically reimagined standards..." (All About Jazz, July 2021)

"Maria, as never heard before. Michael Robinson's cool raga-riff on Lenny's hit tune." (Norman Lebrecht)

Thank You Bill and Jocelyn

On Losing A Piano Teacher

Standards Proving To Be A Jazz Phoenix

Prismatizing Standards with Jazz and Raga Amalgams, Polymodality and Equal Temperament Tuning

Gatra Vina Presaging Pianoforte

Riding Planets and Star Clusters

Jazz Beginnings Anew

Piano Saptaks and Chakras

Piano Like Ocean Tide Pool

Gathering Jazz Spirits With A Lapis Lazuli Ganesh

Ticket To Improvise

Not Like Before: Michael Robinson's Jazz Without Borders

@ All About Jazz

Approaching What May Be Daunting