home is where storms play
⠀
take comfort in the unknown⠀
⠀
THE WILD FOREST REIGNS
⠀
the final lullaby
⠀
out everywhere today

Lullabies of the Pleiades

The Wild Forest Reigns

field notes excerpt 2. journey to earth

All composition is ethnomusicology, if you’re lucky.

While I cannot vouch for my own luck, and I cannot be certain I have transcribed these Pleiadian lullabies with sufficient accuracy — such that the Pleiadians themselves could still feel their full import — I have tried my best for now. I have sensed that the piano, as an instrument, is unfamiliar to them, but in the end is serviceable for the purposes of transcription.

Gathering the songs began with a process of sitting in stillness, the better by which to detect currents in the air. Then, like sifting particles of sand lifted by wind, I could listen for patterns, the frequencies scattered and embedded in shared consciousness, the imprint of grooves left from countless repetitions of the same gestures of care, given and then continuously passed along. an ancient and timeless wisdom. The endless circulation of blood through the body is an apt metaphor for the rejuvenating effect of songs repeated and echoed across time.

~ fig. B, meeting of the comets from the lullabies of the pleiades collection

Meeting of the Comets

field notes excerpt 1. origins

The Pleiadians became aware, early on, of their role as beacon and source of wonder. That anyone who saw their bouquet of stars, no matter how distant, would thereafter look to them in search for answers. That they would be listened to — and so what they say should not lead the rest of us astray.

Swift was their realization that music was the ideal language to communicate wishes, context, and emotion. and so naturally the songs they played for each other carried the same glowing power when broadcast outward, for anyone who didn’t understand their spoken languages.

The lullaby is complete.

A self-contained intention.

(A gift and a blessing.)

the deep care of a lullaby is transmitted across time, across distances even so vast as when years are needed for light to bridge the gap.

“I’ll sing to you, so that you might find peace more easily.”

~ fig. A, the undersea carousel from the lullabies of the pleiades collection

The Undersea Carousel

a lullaby about a child of the Pleiades
traveling home through hills and frozen lakes —
⠀
usually the journey is calm but
on this foggy night
the snow seems especially mischievous

Home by Snowlight

here begins the story of our mariner 🛶⠀
exploring a vast, endless ocean⠀
filled with curious creatures⠀
⠀
under the light of three overlapping moons 🌔 ☾ 🌑⠀
there is a certain dance⠀
(learned by all children)⠀
that when danced⠀
navigates the wanderer towards home⠀
⠀
how to recall a dance from distant childhood?⠀
⠀
singing the first notes of this lullaby 🎶⠀
welcomes, somehow, the summoning of movement⠀
allowing the body all by itself⠀
to channel memories kept safe⠀
and bring ancient wonders to life

Ballet of the Mariner

the first time I performed this song live, the audience reaction was a surprise.

to tell the story right I'd like to go back to the beginning.

around christmas in darkness of winter lockdown, I sat in front of a piano to play one note -- causing the following melody to unfold by itself. it was one of those songs nearly fully formed upon arrival, which happens occasionally. but this song felt beamed from the skies, reminiscent of a dream.

within the grand sweep of the universe we occupy an invisible amount of space, and an even smaller moment in time (scientists: kindly double-check my math). THE COSMIC BLINK EXPANDS is the idea of taking the mere blip of a second we've been given -- widening it, delving into its finest details, imbuing life with meaning.

the time came to choose songs to debut on tour with Alex Wong. I hesitated to pick this at all. its quietness and lack of rhythm made me wonder about the “show-appropriate”-ness. but I thought about how it’d been written during a songwriting sprint, how out of dozens of songs born that week I kept returning to it again and again. how love letters to Maurice Ravel and Bill Evans are bookmarked inside its sheaves. how its power, for me, comes from its resolute tenderness.

hearing listeners respond with “I am floating in space” and “I want this mood to continue forever” was deep catharsis. though the music came from mysterious origins, to me these words somehow also said: “message received”.

I’m excited to present this song as the first statement of LULLABIES OF THE PLEIADES -- all songs and more about the project will be revealed soon, including lyrics for this one.

it’s an honor to work with Brian Trahan for his expert assistance through the recording and mixing journey, Keith of The Shivers for the impulse and guidance to embark on this whole adventure in the first place, Alex Saltz of APS Mastering for his exemplary skills and aesthetic sensibilities.

thank you to Kyle McEvoy and Sonder House for your patience and help with the release!

much love and gratitude to Juliette Viger for the visionary artwork ❤

shout-out again to Alex Wong for the space to take chances, and co-performers HULA HI-FI & I Am Rotana for carrying the show 🙂

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THE COSMIC BLINK EXPANDS is out 2021 July 23 on all music platforms so here is a shortcut if you use others: https://ericpan.org/play

Released on Sonder House and Falling Sea Records.

The Cosmic Blink Expands

Featuring Sebastian Chiriboga (drums) and Dean Torrey (bass).

Recorded live at Douglass Recording, Brooklyn.

Travel Poems . Chapter 2 . The night sea

Oak Island

The song’s the storm, music notes the rain.

It was composed during an approaching hurricane -- rainy winds rattling my window blinds forced me to end the writing session. You can hear the original recording here (soundcloud.com/ericpan/demo-the-storm-heaves-in-the-distance), which I’m releasing today alongside the studio version (re-arranged with bass and drums).

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from Travel Poems . Chapter 2 . The night sea

BANDCAMP: ericpan.bandcamp.com
GORGEOUS ALBUM SITE: travelpoems.com
ALSO NICE ARTIST SITE: ericpan.org
“View from a Llama” TEASER VIDEO: vimeo.com/242965350

“Chapter 1 . Secret towns” released 28 August 2020 on Falling Sea (fallingsea.com). Featured in two longform interviews:

* JAZZIZ Magazine: https://www.jazziz.com/qa-eric-pan-travel-poems/
* National radio on PRI’s The World: https://www.pri.org/stories/2020-08-31/travel-takes-new-meaning-jazz-pianist-s-latest-album

Chapters 2 and 3 release with upcoming tour and roving art exhibition.

Eric Pan creates novel and transportive experiences for audiences, incorporating musical performance, improvisation, collaboration, and immersive storytelling.

This year, he releases a three-volume album titled Travel Poems. It's an unconventional debut. In the rainforests of Costa Rica, what began as a series of song-postcards based on stories of people and places soon blossomed a recording tour, leading to pianos across four continents. The resulting 30-track sonic kaleidoscope boasts solo, duo, and trio performances, threaded through soundscape narratives also curated from around the world.

Live performances of Travel Poems feature its expansive repertoire, and additionally explore a complementary idea: how music is itself a means of travel. Eric delivers his peculiar vision for immersive storytelling, interwoven with song and collective improvisation, to carry audiences into a variety of sound-imagination spaces.

Trilogy album recorded in countries across four continents by Eric Pan and Brian Trahan, mixed by Brian Trahan in New York and Berlin. Mastered by Ruairi O’Flaherty in Los Angeles. Painting album art by Krys Unverzagt. Calligraphy by Jitesh Patel. Full credits for found-sound collaborators at TravelPoems.com.

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If hearing this song evokes for you any memories, or fantasies, or other stories, I would love to know -- just message me here, or at eric@travelpoems.com. The live Travel Poems show features immersive storytelling, so it may be possible to weave your story into the musical experience.

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Fender Rhodes by Eric Pan, drums by Nir Sabag, bass by Hugo Reydet, recorded at TRIXX Studios in Berlin.
Production and mix with Brian Trahan.
Mastering by Ruairi O’Flaherty.

The Storm Heaves in the Distance

Years ago, I asked a friend for something to write a song about. She said, simply: “Loss”

Later that day
in a forest cabin with an old piano
some music notes appeared
so I put them together in order

this recording is the original

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from Travel Poems . Chapter 2 . The night sea

BANDCAMP: ericpan.bandcamp.com
GORGEOUS ALBUM SITE: travelpoems.com
ALSO NICE ARTIST SITE: ericpan.org
“View from a Llama” TEASER VIDEO: vimeo.com/242965350

“Chapter 1 . Secret towns” released 28 August 2020 on Falling Sea (fallingsea.com). Featured in two longform interviews:

* JAZZIZ Magazine: https://www.jazziz.com/qa-eric-pan-travel-poems/
* National radio on PRI’s The World: https://www.pri.org/stories/2020-08-31/travel-takes-new-meaning-jazz-pianist-s-latest-album

Chapters 2 and 3 release with upcoming tour and roving art exhibition.

Eric Pan creates novel and transportive experiences for audiences, incorporating musical performance, improvisation, collaboration, and immersive storytelling.

This year, he releases a three-volume album titled Travel Poems. It's an unconventional debut. In the rainforests of Costa Rica, what began as a series of song-postcards based on stories of people and places soon blossomed a recording tour, leading to pianos across four continents. The resulting 30-track sonic kaleidoscope boasts solo, duo, and trio performances, threaded through soundscape narratives also curated from around the world.

Live performances of Travel Poems feature its expansive repertoire, and additionally explore a complementary idea: how music is itself a means of travel. Eric delivers his peculiar vision for immersive storytelling, interwoven with song and collective improvisation, to carry audiences into a variety of sound-imagination spaces.

Trilogy album recorded in countries across four continents by Eric Pan and Brian Trahan, mixed by Brian Trahan in New York and Berlin. Mastered by Ruairi O’Flaherty in Los Angeles. Painting album art by Krys Unverzagt. Calligraphy by Jitesh Patel. Full credits for found-sound collaborators at TravelPoems.com.

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If hearing this song evokes for you any memories, or fantasies, or other stories, I would love to know -- just message me here, or at eric@travelpoems.com. The live Travel Poems show features immersive storytelling, so it may be possible to weave your story into the musical experience.

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Solo Fender Rhodes by Eric Pan, recorded at Berlin Friedhof Lilienthalstraße.
Production and mix with Brian Trahan.
Mastering by Ruairi O’Flaherty.

Loss

Official Music Video: https://youtu.be/cV7NMot_1bA (premieres alongside CMJ Music Marathon Feb 8)

This song comes from wilderness. Olena and Marko found me aimless and wandering in Krakow, which somehow led, two days later, to an evening spent by the Western Carpathian mountains surrounded by a larger group of friends. Guitars around a campfire, melodies sung into the night. After leaving them, I wrote the main theme in trying to capture the mood we'd found.

I forgot about the song until a year later, when it seemed a good idea to gather all the “postcard” songs composed during journeys afar. Many of the themes seemed to want to stay simple and untouched, but “Foot of the Carpathians” presented a deeper mystery. I felt it was worth trying to expand the track’s primary statement into a few different but related harmonies, and introduce it to Nir Sabag (drums) and Hugo Reydet (bass) with room for melodic and rhythmic improvisation. I hoped a trio in musical conversation would be fitting for a song born from a small gathering.

We, together with longtime production friends Virgil Segal and Brian Trahan, recorded the track at TRIXX Studios in Berlin, Germany. The soundscapes were meticulously scored later, combining sounds found separately. This could not have been accomplished without Brian’s impeccable sound engineering. Full sound credits are listed at http://travelpoems.com/#about -- however, the primary contribution to the vibe of the soundscapes in this track is a recording of a Tibetan singing bowl, made in Duisburg, tuned to the frequency of the asteroid Ceres. 

If hearing this song evokes for you any memories, or fantasies, or other stories, I would love to know -- just message me here, or at eric@travelpoems.com. The live Travel Poems show features immersive storytelling, so it may be possible to weave your story into the musical experience.

First single “Foot of the Carpathians” premiered by JAZZIZ Magazine (longform interview at https://www.jazziz.com/qa-eric-pan-travel-poems/)

BANDCAMP: http://ericpan.bandcamp.com
GORGEOUS ALBUM SITE: https://travelpoems.com
ALSO NICE ARTIST SITE: https://ericpan.org

“Chapter 1 . Secret towns” full album released 28 Aug 2020 on Falling Sea (https://fallingsea.com)- and featured with longform interview on national radio, PRI’s “The World”: https://www.pri.org/stories/2020-08-31/travel-takes-new-meaning-jazz-pianist-s-latest-album

Chapters 2 and 3 release with tour and live storytelling, plus roving art exhibition soon

“Foot of the Carpathians” features Nir Sabag (drums) and Hugo Reydet (bass). Trilogy album recorded in various countries by Eric Pan and Brian Trahan, mixed by Brian Trahan in New York and Berlin. Mastered by Ruairi O’Flaherty in Los Angeles. Photography by Eric Pan. Calligraphy by Jitesh Patel.

Scored with found sounds — credited to these curators:
spt3125 freesound.org/people/spt3125/sounds/24806/
stefanhoevenaar freesound.org/people/stefanhoevenaar/sounds/50651/
colinsullivan (California) freesound.org/people/colinsullivan/sounds/189451/
unfa freesound.org/people/unfa/sounds/269344/

Travel Poems . Chapter 1 . Secret towns

Foot of the Carpathians

Claire, I’m writing you from a train station in Paris, which is less a place to be, than a total displacement. For 3 days it’s been raining over us, a constant mist that soaks my head immediately upon peeking outside. So I stay in, looking out, confined by my own feet. It’s my exterminating angel. I feel lonely and extinguished.

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This song comes from the illusion of loneliness.
An internal compass is somewhere, waiting to be rediscovered.

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If hearing this song evokes for you any memories, or fantasies, or other stories, I would love to know -- just message me here, or at eric@travelpoems.com. The live Travel Poems show features immersive storytelling, so it may be possible to weave your story into the musical experience.

“Travel Poems . Chapter 1 . Secret towns” also featured in two longform interviews:

* JAZZIZ Magazine: https://www.jazziz.com/qa-eric-pan-travel-poems/
* National radio on PRI’s The World: https://www.pri.org/stories/2020-08-31/travel-takes-new-meaning-jazz-pianist-s-latest-album

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Solo piano by Eric Pan, recorded at Imperial College London.
Production and mix with Brian Trahan.
Mastering by Ruairi O’Flaherty.

Scored with found sounds — credited to these curators:
vflefevre (Krakow) http://freesound.org/people/vflefevre/sounds/166175/
barcelonetasonora (Barceloneta) http://freesound.org/people/barcelonetasonora/sounds/188852/
avakas (Greece) http://freesound.org/people/avakas/sounds/197124/
Rapoix http://freesound.org/people/Rapoix/sounds/316750/
Eelke http://freesound.org/people/Eelke/sounds/144830/

Gare du Nord

This song comes from childlike flights of fancy. It was part of a trio of songs written in Macedonia, inspired by the mountain range Jakupica. Beautiful, lush, sunny landscapes tailor-made for daydreaming prompted me to imagine a faster way to ascend its peaks, maybe even reaching Solunska Glava with a snap of the fingers (and heartrending views to boot).

Two layers of musical themes laid out on the piano together tell a story of what it would be like, for a mountain trolley (a.k.a. carriage lift / funicular / teleferique, the coolest word ever) to appear and whisk us up to the top. I love hiking -- but magic is amazing too.

Full sound credits are listed at http://travelpoems.com/#about. The primary contributions to the vibe of the soundscapes scored with this track are fireworks recorded in Sweden and Cornwall, England.

If hearing this song evokes for you any memories, or fantasies, or other stories, I would love to know -- just message me here, or at eric@travelpoems.com. The live Travel Poems show features immersive storytelling, so it may be possible to weave your story into the musical experience.

BANDCAMP: http://ericpan.bandcamp.com
GORGEOUS ALBUM SITE: https://travelpoems.com
ALSO NICE ARTIST SITE: https://ericpan.org

“Chapter 1 . Secret towns” full album released 28 Aug 2020 on Falling Sea (https://fallingsea.com) - and featured in two longform interviews:

* JAZZIZ Magazine: https://www.jazziz.com/qa-eric-pan-travel-poems/
* National radio on PRI’s The World: https://www.pri.org/stories/2020-08-31/travel-takes-new-meaning-jazz-pianist-s-latest-album

Chapters 2 and 3 release with tour and live storytelling, plus roving art exhibition Winter 2020 -- follow for updates!

Trilogy album recorded in various countries by Eric Pan and Brian Trahan, mixed by Brian Trahan in New York and Berlin. Mastered by Ruairi O’Flaherty in Los Angeles. Photography and cover art by Eric Pan. Calligraphy by Jitesh Patel.

Scored with found sounds — credited to these curators:
unfa freesound.org/people/unfa/sounds/174493/
MrAuralization freesound.org/people/MrAuralization/sounds/213236/
Skjor1 (Cornwall) freesound.org/people/Skjor1/sounds/321784/

Up Jakupica

Drake . Passionfruit . from More Life (2017)

Solo piano cover and arrangement by Eric Pan

Follow ScratchPiano for covers and live improvisation sessions
-- requests welcome / sheet music available

Music and lyrics by Drake & Nana Rogues --

Listen
Seein’ you got ritualistic
Cleansin’ my soul of addiction for now
’cause I'm fallin’ apart, yeah
Tension
Between us just like picket fences
You got issues that I won’t mention for now
’Cause we're fallin’ apart

Passionate from miles away
Passive with the things you say
Passin’ up on my old ways
I can’t blame you, no...no [repeated]

[instrumental break and solo]

Listen
Harder buildin’ trust from a distance
I think we should rule out commitment for now
’cause we're fallin’ apart
Leavin’
You’re just doing that to get even
Don't pick up the pieces, just leave it for now
They keep fallin’ apart

Passionate from miles away
Passive with the things you say
Passin’ up on my old ways
I can’t blame you, no...no [repeated]

Drake / Passionfruit / piano cover & rearrangement

Soundgarden . Black Hole Sun . from Superunknown (1994)

Solo piano tribute, arrangement by Eric Pan
Watch the video of this performance: https://youtu.be/_dSRPHYdogk

Lyrics by Chris Cornell as re-arranged for this cover --

In my eyes, indisposed
in disguises no one knows
Hides the face, lies the snake
and the sun in my disgrace

Black hole sun, won’t you come
and wash away the rain?
Black hole sun, won’t you come
won’t you come
won’t you come...

Boiling heat, summer stench
‘neath the black, the sky looks dead
Call my name, through the cream
and I’ll hear you scream again

Black hole sun, won’t you come
and wash away the rain?
Black hole sun, won’t you come, won’t you come
won’t you come, won’t you come?
Black hole sun, won’t you come, won’t you come? [repeated]

[instrumental breakdown]

Stuttering, cold and damp
steal the warm wind, tired friend
Times are gone, for honest men
sometimes, far too long, for snakes

In my shoes, walking sleep
in my youth, I pray to keep
Heaven send, hell away
no one sings like you anymore

[instrumental bridge]

Hang my head, drown my fear
’til you all just disappear
Black hole sun, won’t you come
and wash away the rain?

Soundgarden . Black Hole Sun . piano tribute (reharmonization, rearrangement)

Sheltering in Brooklyn with a hurricane approaching, I left the window open while improvising on a Fender Rhodes. This song snippet came out, then I had to cut off playing and recording since the storm was entering the room on its own.

The song made its way to the Travel Poems trilogy, re-arranged and re-recorded with drums and acoustic bass: you can hear the album version at https://soundcloud.com/ericpan/travel-poems-the-storm-heaves-in-the-distance

Eric Pan

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