No speed of wind or water rushing by
But you have speed far greater. You can climb
Back up a stream of radiance to the sky,
And back through history up the stream of time.
And you were given this swiftness, not for haste
Nor chiefly that you may go where you will,
But in the rush of everything to waste,
That you may have the power of standing still-
Off any still or moving thing you say.
Two such as you with such a master speed
Cannot be parted nor be swept away
From one another once you are agreed
That life is only life forevermore
Together wing to wing and oar to oar

(The Master Speed by Robert Frost (1874-1963) composed in 1937)

Robert Frost

And I love Anindo Chatterjee's slow playing just as much, if not even more.

We recorded four albums of piano and tabla duets that are unlike any previous East-West collaboration by far and away. These may be challenging for most listeners being so original and complex, including jazz and Indian classical music connesseurs accustomed to more conventional improvisations, but if one takes the time to acclimate these duets will reward the listener with new details and synergistic matter being noticed each time you listen.

- Michael Robinson, May 2024, Los Angeles

© 2024 Michael Robinson All rights reserved

Michael Robinson is a Los Angeles-based composer, programmer, pianist and musicologist. His 199 albums include 152 albums for meruvina and 47 albums of piano improvisations. Robinson has been a lecturer at UCLA, Bard College and California State University Long Beach and Dominguez Hills.