In 2004, keyboardist DeWayne Segafredo and I recorded and released this album of our Christmas carol arrangements. We called it "Carols For Sunday Morning" because it represents our piano/keyboard sound that we produce for Sunday church services - and 20 years later we're still playing together, also with a skilled band. All of these tracks were played live with no overdubs or multi-tracking. DeWayne is on his keyboard rack with multiple sound sources, and I am at the Baldwin baby grand piano. Recently, we've been getting requests for it to be re-released, and people are asking for it in streaming format - so here it is. Enjoy!

16 The Angel Gabriel

06 Some Children See Him

08 Gentle Mary

05 Good Christian Men, Rejoice

13 Joy To The World

15 The Holly And The Ivy

14 Away In A Manger Medley

09 Hark! Bruce

12 I Wonder As I Wander

10 While Shepherds Watched

07 It Came Upon A Midnight Clear

Funky arrangement of a familiar gospel Christmas tune... from my mid-90's holiday projects. I'm playing every instrument on this track in real time (from a keyboard) one part at a time - "old school." For the keyboard geeks: the sounds are vintage Roland (RD-300, D-50, and Sound Canvas), except one of the organ patches might be from my Kurzweil 1000PX (can't remember if I used it on this track - hey, it's been over 15 years, cut me a break).

Go Tell It On The Mountain

Here' a preview track from my new solo piano album, now available at iTunes:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/im-not-buying-it-solo-piano/id582662042

... also at Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Not-Buying-Solo-Piano-Improvisations/dp/B00AFTW4KU/ref=sr_shvl_album_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1354322109&sr=301-2

"Tink Buzz Brush Strum" finds me playing the piano strings in addition to the keys. On this song, improvised live in one take, I'm also using Mardi Gras beads, a nylon drumbrush, and my Samsung cellphone placed randomly on some strings. Enjoy!

From the album...

DAVID BRUCE SMITH
I'm Not Buying It
(solo piano improvisations)

Since the final Christmas season that I worked in retail sales (back at age 29), I have purposely avoided shopping on "Black Friday" - the day after Thanksgiving. In fact, I usually plan something specifically creative to do instead on that day each year.

2012 has been no different. I planned a time of jamming with my good friend and music colleague Cy Fleming. In recent years we have had several of these piano sessions, and we always seem to get some great music out of it.

We met in the afternoon, talked over some musical philosophy - especially related to the piano - and then took turns playing. We ended up playing 20 total songs, 10 each. Then we went to dinner at a small locally-owned restaurant (the only sensible thing to do on "Black Friday").

With the exception of one "cover" that I played, all of the songs were composed spontaneously and were true improvisations. This album contains all nine of my original songs from that session, with no corrections, edits, or false starts. We simply sat down and played, the way we've done before. For most of these tunes, I had absolutely no preconceived ideas until I pressed the "record" button and moved two steps to the piano bench, trusting Music to converse with me.

So that's the meaning of this album's title: I'm Not Buying It. By not going shopping on the biggest shopping day of the year, I ended up creating and recording these songs instead instead. There's also another meaning to the title which I offer for its ironic humor: I'm offering this album for sale now.

Knowing that improvised solo piano music certainly isn't for everyone, I trust that appreciative listeners will be attracted to these songs. As I was preparing them for this release I realized that they are a very accurate reflection of my current range of playing.

Special thanks for the friendship and inspiration of Leszek Mozdzer, Ethan Iverson (with The Bad Plus), and especially Victor Wooten and his team of instructors & bandmates. And as always, I have continued gratefulness for my most frequent and valued musical collaborators - Toni Schlemmer, DeWayne Segafredo, Cy Fleming, Matt Stanton, Cam Marburger, Seth Beck, and for the full faith and support of the Calvin Church staff and congregation, and The Strand Theater.

recorded 11/23/12
on the Baldwin grand piano
at Calvin Presbyterian Church
Zelienople, PA

recording: Zoom Q3HD (internal condenser microphones)
software: Zoom HandyShare and Apple GarageBand
produced, engineered, mastered by David Bruce Smith

Tink Buzz Brush Strum

David Bruce Smith is a pianist, composer, conductor, and educator who has been performing professionally since the age of 14 - as a soloist, in small ensembles, in larger bands, and frequently as a music director for theatrical productions.

Bruce is the Director of Music (and the Youth Director) at Calvin Presbyterian Church in Zelienople, Pennsylvania, where he has served for 40 years. He also is the Music Director for concert programs at The Strand Theater (also in Zelienople), where he conducts and accompanies a range of professional actors and singers, including visiting Broadway performers. He also has conducted the orchestras for the annual musical at Seneca Valley High School (Harmony, Pennsylvania) for 18 years. He conducts and plays numerous theatrical shows every year - more than 100 different productions and hundreds of performances over the past decade alone.

In recent summers Bruce continues to produce and direct the annual music & drama week at Camp Westminster on Higgins Lake in Michigan, now up to a 22-year istory. He also works occasionally as a music camp instructor for world-renowned musician and author Victor Wooten at his “Wooten Woods Center For Music And Nature” in Tennessee.

MUSICAL INFLUENCES (in alphabetical order) The Bad Plus (Ethan Iverson), Michael Kelly Blanchard, Jason Robert Brown, David Byrne, Daryl Coley, Jacob Collier, Aaron Copland, Neil Diamond, Ludovico Einaudi, Brian Eno, Maynard Ferguson, Béla Fleck & The Flecktones, Ben Folds, Aretha Franklin, Peter Gabriel, Keith Green, Indigo Girls (Emily Saliers & Amy Ray), Keith Jarrett, Billy Joel, Elton John, Rickie Lee Jones, Morten Lauridsen, Ken Medema, Pat Metheny, Ennio Morricone, Leszek Mozdzer, Me’Shell Ndegéocello, Michael Omartian, Dianne Reeves, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, Pete Townshend, Trio Grande & Trio Bravo (John D’Amico), U2, Vangelis, The Ventures, Tom Waits, Matthew Ward, Jimmy Webb, The Who, Stevie Wonder, Victor Wooten

David Bruce Smith

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