Alister Spence - Always Ever

'Improvisation becomes exploration, not just of musical ideas but of space, texture, and perception itself...if art has any enduring function, it is not simply to move us. It is to unsettle us, just enough to make us listen again. Indispensable.' Thierry De Clemensat, Paris-Moves

'The title of Always Ever, the absorbing new album from Australian pianist and composer Alister Spence, suggests a wellspring of sound and inspiration that gazes beyond the present moment into the infinite. An ambitious, singular and deeply personal collection of inventions and experiments, the album ventures further down the path on which the pianist embarked with his acclaimed 2020 album Whirlpool, which All About Jazz hailed as “a good place to hear [Spence’s] uncommon imagination at work.”

Always Ever consists of 16 wholly improvised pieces, each one approaching the piano from a distinct perspective - some showcase the improvisatory versatility that have made Spence one of the preeminent jazz pianists in Australia stretching back to his days with the internationally renowned group Clarion Fracture Zone; others transform the sonics of the piano through a variety of eclectic preparations and approaches.

“Over time,” Spence explains, “the playing of the piano for me has expanded to encompass the whole piano, more than just playing the keys. I'm interested in contingency. I'm interested in accidents and what they cause to happen in the music, and I deliberately try to create those accidents for myself.”

Whirlpool marked the beginning of an investigatory new chapter in Spence’s nearly four decade career, his first solo outing and the introduction of an expansive palette of singular approaches to the piano. He delves deeper into that exploration on Always Ever, documenting a process of discovery into the boundless possibilities of the instrument that he’s played for his entire life.' Shaun D Brady