RELEASES
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"It is hard to imagine another piano couple offering the vast shimmering coordinated pointillism of ‘Embraceable You,' or the waterfalls of romanticism that is ‘The Man I love.'"
- Jazz Times
For her Ryko debut, Playful Virtuosity, the versatile pianist (and official Turkish State Soloist) Meral Guneyman teams up with legendary piano player, arranger and composer Dick Hyman to trade "playful" interpretations of a diverse group of works including Gershwin and a tribute to Django Reinhart. The album is a musical banter between two masterful artists who clearly delight in their craft and feed off of one another's unique creative spirit.
Pianist Meral Guneyman made her orchestral debut in the United States under the baton of Michael Tilson Thomas as first prize winner of the Buffalo Harmonic Orchestra's Young Artist's Competition. She was then promptly reengaged by Tilson Thomas to play the Schumann Concerto with the Pittsburgh Symphony. She made her Carnegie Hall debut as winner of the East & West Artists' International Competition. After winning the prestigious William Kappell International Competition at the University of Maryland she performed with Leon Fleischer and the Baltimore Symphony. Her accolades include winner of the Juilliard School's Chopin Concerto Competition and Laureate in the International Naumburg Competition, which, once again, brought her to Carnegie Hall, this time to the Isaac Stern Auditorium. Ms. Guneyman, a Turkish-born American citizen, holds the title of "State Artist" of Turkey, representing the Ministry of Culture of the Turkish Republic, worldwide.
"A highly sensitive artist with a wonderful, warm, romantic sound"
- Michael Tilson Thomas
"Working with Meral has been astonishing. She is such a fantastic pianist that it is a great pleasure to be her partner. Her technique is incredible and her familiarity with jazz and jazz piano conventions combined with that mastery leads to wonderful piano playing empathy and a considerable challenge!"
- Dick Hyman
Throughout a busy musical career that got underway in the early ‘50s, Dick Hyman has functioned as pianist, organist, arranger, music director, and composer. His versatility in all of these areas has resulted in film scores, orchestral compositions, concert appearances and well over 100 albums recorded under his own name. While developing a masterful facility for improvisation in his own piano style, Mr. Hyman has also investigated ragtime and the earliest periods of jazz and has researched and recorded the piano music of Scott Joplin, Jelly Roll Morton, James P. Johnson, Zex Confrey, Eubie Blake and Fats Waller, which he often features in his frequent recitals. Other solo recordings include the music of Irving Berlin, Harold Arlen, Cole Porter, George Gershwin and Duke Ellington.
About Playful Virtuosity (in Meral Guneyman's own words):
"During the late ‘90s, after enduring a period of family tragedy and hardship, I decided to close my music school and return to my performing career. My great interest and love for jazz took over during this time and Dick Hyman's work caught my attention. I loved it and understood it immediately. Little did I know that one day he and I would perform together in Carnegie Hall.
I loved Dick's ‘Jazz Etudes in the Style of Jazz Masters' and learned them, adding sections, embellishments or richer dynamics to some of them. I treated them like I would any collection of gems by classical masters and included my interpretations on my 2002 album Nostalgia. I sent a copy to Dick and he wrote me a beautiful letter and started sending me other compositions. We began corresponding regularly and I included his version of ‘My Favorite things' on my next release, A Christmas Memory.
In late 2004 it became clear that a Carnegie Hall concert was going to materialize and I thought to myself, ‘think repertoire!' A friend then encouraged me to ‘forget Schumann' and instead do jazz and ask Dick to join me. Dick accepted my invitation and the next thing I knew we were rehearsing at the Yamaha showroom on 5th Avenue. When we finished, I remember Dick saying, ‘This looks like the beginning of a very good musical adventure.' The concert was sponsored partly by the late Ahmet Ertegun and was a huge success.
Later, Dick and I entered the studio and recorded Playful Virtuosity. For me, this album evolved naturally, a lot like jazz itself."