A set of 11 original piano nocturnes by pianist composer, Phil Best. 

Nocturnes are dark, melancholic virtual love songs full of pathos and longing. Each one feels like an intimate soliloquy about unrequited love, heartbreak and desire.

Inspired by Chopin's masterpieces of this genre, Phil explores a more contemporary approach, mixing in jazz, blues, pop and filmic elements.

Nocturnes

Phil Best, virtuoso pianist and composer releases new album - 𝘍𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴 & 𝘔𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴.

An album of 20 short piano improvisations, occasionally with sections repeated, Phil creates a completely spontaneous outpouring but with a powerful sense of rhythmic unfolding or storytelling that renders even trivial events, dramatic, momentous or pivotal. Nothing is planned or contrived but never whimsical or random. Just true! Phil uses improvised piano music to describe deep inner states - beyond the scope of language - and does so with real precision and clarity.

Forces & Moments

Rachmaninov Prelude Op. 23 No. 4

You can also follow me on Spotify at https://spoti.fi/2MRR1lV and stream the albums I have released there.

Rachmaninov Prelude Op. 23 No. 4

You can also follow me on Spotify at https://spoti.fi/2MRR1lV and stream the albums I have released there.

The Places We Knew

The Same Smile

It seems like yesterday

You can’t catch me

Never leave me again

The long walk home

I can’t see you anywhere

Piano Improvisation no. 108

Debussy - Deux Arabesques

Sleigh Ride in Vaughan Williams style

A spacious, dark piano piece, full of melancholy and hope.

Darkest Before Dawn

A delicious jazz piano improvisation over a lazy electronic drum groove with rich, ambient sonorities and gentle waves melody and harmony.

The Bliss we Knew

The Bliss We Knew

A slow to mid-tempo solo piano track improvised in a dreamy soulful style with rich, sweet jazzy harmonies and lyrical flourishes over hiphop influenced electronic beats.

Balance Restored

Rachmaninov's Prelude in G minor Op.23 No.5 performed by Phil Best

You can also follow me on Spotify at https://spoti.fi/2MRR1lV and stream the albums I have released there.

Prelude in G minor Op. 23 No. 5 - Rachmaninov

Freshly Squeezed is a spontaneous outpouring of improvised piano music that takes you on a journey through an eclectic range of styles, moods and atmospheres.

Freshly Squeezed

Don't Break It!

How Do I Keep You Here

How Do I Keep You Here?

November Drought

Voices on the Wind

You Will Pay For This

It's Almost Time

Song to the Open Road

April Snow

A very sweet improvisation, with a simple wish for the world.

Just bring back the love

Chopin Mazurka Op. 67 No. 4

A moment of deep nostalgic longing

A Moment Of Deep Nostalgic Longing

Schubert Impromptu In G Flat Op 90 No 3

Mendelssohn Venetian Gondola Song Op 30 No 6

We can never tire of this delicious piece!

You can also follow me on Spotify at https://spoti.fi/2MRR1lV and stream the albums I have released there.

Clair de Lune - Debussy

The Chopin Fantaisie-Impromptu is one of those iconic pieces of the classical piano repertoire. It is arguably played too much so why have I added my performance? I think the infinite ways a piece can change in the hands of different musicians is actually very interesting. My version is fast but lyrical and I search for an unexaggerated and natural romanticism and warmth.

You can also follow me on Spotify at https://spoti.fi/2MRR1lV and stream the albums I have released there.

Fantaisie-Impromptu Op. 66 - Chopin

Nocturne Op. 9 No. 1 - Chopin

Nocturne Op. 9 No. 2 - Chopin

Rachmaninov Elégie Op.3 No.1

Rachmaninov Prelude Op.3 No.2

My Nocturne No. 11 in G minor is one of the 11 Nocturnes that feature in my forthcoming album 'Nocturnal' to be released on February 18th. The album version is the original unplanned improvisation, but having created a score, I play it for you here.

Nocturnal

Nocturne No. 11 in G minor - Phil Best

Chopin's G minor Ballade is one of those pieces that is played a great deal and often rather mangled by exaggerated rubato and mannered interpretation. I love to reveal the unvarnished truth about music, to reveal its natural patterns and structure. For me, allowing the rhythm and melodic lines to flow with natural flexibility only adds to the extraordinary cathartic beauty of Chopin's refined yet emotional and virtuoso composition.

You can also follow me on Spotify at spoti.fi/2MRR1lV and stream the albums I have released there.

Ballade in G minor op. 23 - Chopin

Am I Enough For You?

Follow Me into the Night

Too Far From Home

Do You Even See Me?

Come Back To Me

Mendelssohn Song Without Words in A minor op 38 no 5

Rachmaninov - Moment Musical in E flat minor

The joy we feel at the sighting of a butterfly when the warm weather arrives after the long, dark cold of winter is a very special feeling. Music can bring us this joy whenever we need it!

First Butterfly of Spring

First Butterfly Of Spring

For Phil, traditional classical piano training was something of a straitjacket. He rebelled from a very young age by teaching himself to improvise and play by ear. Fundamentally gentle by nature - he’s a vegan and life-long meditator - the competitive world of classical piano seemed brutal. Phil plays music simply for the love of it and nothing else matters to him. He’s not interested in definitive interpretations or who-can-play-the-fastest performances: what Phil offers is real musical sense, through delivering rhythm and groove, melody and harmony with depth, clarity and unconventional intelligibility.

Phil plays in a refreshingly unpretentious and accessible way, telling musical stories with vivid, straightforward passion. Being a Yorkshireman, he says it how it is, and music for him is profound solace, catharsis and joy: so this is what he offers. Being extraordinarily fluent in the language of music on the keys, he loves to improvise freely, allowing the music to pour forth spontaneously, from a place of deep body-and-soul consciousness. And he aims to make the music of Mozart, Chopin, Rachmaninov, and every piece he plays, come from this place of real transformation and healing.

Phil Best

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