Jazz · 2020

Answer Me (live from Budapest)

A singular solo piano performance from Budapest. Prickly, abstract improvisations give way to a closing ballad of profound, prayer-like melodic clarity.

May 8, 2020 · ECM Records

Find on Amazon

This recording captures a master at the height of his late-period powers, where the boundary between the performer and the instrument seems to dissolve entirely. The sound is defined by a crystalline clarity, where every hammer strike and pedal release is rendered with startling intimacy. It is a record of profound focus, demanding that the listener enter a state of shared meditation. The atmosphere is one of sacred stillness, recorded in a space where the audience is so rapt that their collective silence becomes a secondary instrument.

Moments Worth Listening For

The way the final chord of the title track hangs in the air, slowly decaying into the absolute silence of the Budapest audience.

The audible, rhythmic creak of the piano stool during the more physically demanding, dissonant improvisational passages.

The sudden shift from complex, atonal clusters into the familiar, comforting melody of the Nat King Cole standard.

Cassette uses generative AI to enrich its catalog. How we use AI →