Steinway Sessions

Solo Steinway grand at a slow 60bpm in F minor, played with close-miked intimacy and plenty of air between phrases. The mood is reflective and quietly sad, a romance remembered rather than lived, resolving gently at the end of its two-and-a-half minutes.

Fast, hard-driving blues piano at 186bpm in B flat, all boogie momentum and New Orleans barrelhouse cheek from a single grand piano. Short and unrelentingly upbeat, it grins from the first bar to the last.

A brisk 130bpm jazz piano miniature in F, playful and light on its feet, just over a minute long. Cocktail-bar phrasing with a quirky bounce, ideal where a scene needs charm and then needs to be over.

The slowest of the album's cocktail ballads at 50bpm in E flat, sustained and spacious solo grand piano with a somber, faraway feel true to its title. Emotionally restrained throughout, it drifts rather than builds.

Up-tempo 180bpm blues-jazz piano in E flat with a New Orleans lilt and an optimistic title to match its feel-good swing. Solo grand piano throughout, energetic and self-contained across under two minutes.

A ragtime-flavoured solo piano romp at 142bpm in C, syncopated and bright with the classic rag right hand implied by the title. Compact at under 80 seconds, it works as a full-energy vintage cue with a clean finish.

Mid-tempo lounge jazz piano at 122bpm in D minor, romantic and slightly smoky with a Latin-leaning cocktail sway suggested by the title. Just solo grand piano, restrained enough to sit behind dialogue in a bar.

Slow, soulful blues piano at 66bpm in F, unhurried and warm with a New Orleans back-porch feel. Solo Steinway with plenty of space between chords, homely rather than mournful.

Stride piano at 122bpm in D flat, with the walking left hand and playful right-hand runs the title promises. Fun and jaunty for its full minute and forty, solo grand piano and nothing else.

The album's longest and slowest piece at 48bpm in C minor, a somber solo piano meditation on separation with long sustains and deliberate pacing. Introspective and emotionally heavy, it never rises above a hush.