A new recording by Paul Langford, this time a ballad called “Upon Reflection.”
The tune grew from the four-note motif that begins the song. The motif itself is stable, in that it outlines a D major chord, but unsettled, because it lands on an F# against a C major chord. This four-note theme–and the tension it creates–reappears in different guises throughout the tune. Perhaps the most striking use of the motif is where it extends up and up until finally landing in a completely different key for the B section.
But enough musical nerdities!
I love what Paul did with this piano ballad. I asked him to channel his inner Bill Evans for this demo. Specifically, my instructions were, “I’m imagining Bill Evans, with a cigarette dangling from his lips and a whiskey on this piano, playing to a mostly empty bar after his band has packed up and gone home. This one’s for him alone–a wistful improvisation with rays of hope; tender and inconclusive, like life itself.”
I have not verified whether the recording included cigarettes and whiskey, but Paul’s Bill Evans is on point!