Richard Bliwas
The pianist has been compared to Brian Wilson, Miles Davis, Patricia Barber, Randy Newman, The Beatles, Van Dyke Parks, Mose Allison, Laura Nyro and Sun Ra-- but as All About Jazz said in it’s review of Rising Rose Records 2004 release Ghost “ His writing is unmistakably original …. Cadence Magazine said in it’s review of Compose Yourself “ Bliwas transforms intricate phrases into seamless music , and Shredding Paper said in it’s review of Walk the Bike “ Bliwas walks the line between jazz and folkrock with confidence…producing a dialectic sound that compliments rather than conflicts. His lyrics have been described as profound, cryptic, silly, perceptive and poetic. Hidden tracks on a couple CD’s led one music journalist to proclaim that "Richard Bliwas has a great sense of humor…”
Soon after studying with composer Olivier Messiaen, pianist Joseph Schwartz,and poet David Young at Oberlin College and Conservatory , Richard's early 80's groups with Ben Sher and Ned Goold were incorporating the influences of Miles Davis , Brian Eno , Syd Barrett and The Beatles , in intimate innovative recordings-- and in performances at the Kool Jazz festival , smokey old Pittsburgh jazz clubs where Benson and Eckstine played a few generations earlier or rock/punk clubs like The Electric Banana. The music however, freely crossed genre lines, foreshadowing alternative and contemporary styles.
By 1984 Richard's odyssey of gigs were taking place in and around New York City--from playing piano for Jacques d'Amboise and the National Dance Institute , to infusing his sensibilities as a pianist/improviser into the jazz and pop music he loved everywhere from CBGB's to the 21 Club. In 1989 Richard provided creative structural and line by line editing collaborating with Cynthia Kadohata on the completion of her acclaimed first novel --The Floating World.
It seemed that Richard might spiral forever in this organic world of anonymous gigs, bike rides to the museum and sourdough breadbaking , when a renewed interest in recording, sparked by a suggestion from the great jazz artist Paul Bley, led him to record his first CD's -- Compose Yourself -- solo, duo and trio improvisations --which recording engineer David Baker called great musicians, recording and performance." and Cadence Magazine called "engrossing and creative, seamless music..." and the painterly production of songs and improvisations from another single afternoon stream of consciousness session, Walk the Bike which Downtown Music Gallery called timeless and exquisite, an album which could have been made in the late 60's if they didn't know better.
Walk the Bike which reached # 1 at CFRC an enlightened college station (Canada's oldest ) in June 2003, was played and continues to be played on dozens of other public and college stations including Stanford's KZSU, and praised in reviews from Music Dish, Shredding Paper, All About Jazz (Italy),The Big Takeover etc..
Ghost , released in Sept. 2004, called Richard's most ambitious work by All About Jazz, reunites his early 80's trio with Brazilian great Valtinho Anastacio. Within a few weeks of it's release it climbed on to a dozen or so college and public radio top 10's such as KTUH chart from sept 2004
(KTUH Honolulu, HI 90.3 FM 6. MEDESKI MARTIN AND WOOD: End Of The World Party (Just In Case) 7. KEITH JARRETT/GARY PEACOCK/JACK DEJOHNETTE: The Out Of Towners 8. RICHARD BLIWAS: Ghost 9. ALICE COLTRANE: Translinear Light 10. WES MONTGOMERY: The Best Of
WAIH Potsdam, NY 90.3 FM 1. BLUES LOUNGE: Various Artists 2. JOE KAP ORGAN TRIO: Street Noise 3. RICHARD BLIWAS: Ghost
CMJ Jazz Report from KEUL 10/23/04 1 MATT WILSON Wake Up! 2 MEDESKI MARTIN AND WOOD End Of The World Party 3 CRITTERS BUGGIN Stampede 4 MATTHEW SHIPP Harmony And Abyss 5 DEEP BLUE ORGAN TRIO Deep Blue Bruise 6 MIKE FROST PROJECT Nothing Smooth About It 7 RICHARD BLIWAS Ghost
WMHB Waterville, ME 89.7 FM 1. BEN TANKARD: Piano Prophet 2. INCOGNITO: Adventures Of Black Sunshine 3. RICHARD BLIWAS: Ghost 4. CHRIS BOTTI: When I Fall In Love 5. 10. MUFFINS: Double Negative
and apperances or as with Ghost -- apparitions-- on playlists like WBRS Brandeis and Stanford's KZSU Zookeeper were becoming frequent . It was also praised in reviews from Cadence Magazine , All About Jazz , and All About Jazz (Italy).
Yarrow Stalk Bridge , released in June 2005 has followed in Ghosts' footsteps , with reviews from All About Jazz Italy , Downtown Music Gallery among others , and more college radio play like WNCW and top ten on a growing number of insightful stations like CKXU.
DMJ (who recently listed Walk the Bike in their top recommendations for 2005) states in it's July 1st 2005 newsletter which reviews Yarrow Stalk Bridge . "Richard is a truly gifted piano player and songwriter who should not go unnoticed for very long. "
Was Is --- released in May 2008 was quickly added and played at many college radio stations like WFMU , WNYU and CMAT reached number 1 at CFRU reviewed by Never Ending Wonder radio and DMG newsletter is available here , CD Baby , I-Tunes, Rhapsody and Downtown Music Gallery
Haunted Rag from Ghost was used in the PBS series Roadtrip Nation 2007.
Richard will make his national television debut later this summer appearing as a pianist on The Food Network.
MySpace page link
Link to Flicker Photo page
Olivia , from Ghost (Rising Rose Records 2004) featured on the All About Jazz Site and reached # 1 on friday october 13th on the All About Jazz (Italy ) top recent downloads where it stayed for a couple weeks
The pianist has been compared to Brian Wilson, Miles Davis, Patricia Barber, Randy Newman, The Beatles, Van Dyke Parks, Mose Allison, Laura Nyro and Sun Ra-- but as All About Jazz said in it’s review of Rising Rose Records 2004 release Ghost “ His writing is unmistakably original …. Cadence Magazine said in it’s review of Compose Yourself “ Bliwas transforms intricate phrases into seamless music , and Shredding Paper said in it’s review of Walk the Bike “ Bliwas walks the line between jazz and folkrock with confidence…producing a dialectic sound that compliments rather than conflicts. His lyrics have been described as profound, cryptic, silly, perceptive and poetic. Hidden tracks on a couple CD’s led one music journalist to proclaim that "Richard Bliwas has a great sense of humor…”
Soon after studying with composer Olivier Messiaen, pianist Joseph Schwartz,and poet David Young at Oberlin College and Conservatory , Richard's early 80's groups with Ben Sher and Ned Goold were incorporating the influences of Miles Davis , Brian Eno , Syd Barrett and The Beatles , in intimate innovative recordings-- and in performances at the Kool Jazz festival , smokey old Pittsburgh jazz clubs where Benson and Eckstine played a few generations earlier or rock/punk clubs like The Electric Banana. The music however, freely crossed genre lines, foreshadowing alternative and contemporary styles.
By 1984 Richard's odyssey of gigs were taking place in and around New York City--from playing piano for Jacques d'Amboise and the National Dance Institute , to infusing his sensibilities as a pianist/improviser into the jazz and pop music he loved everywhere from CBGB's to the 21 Club. In 1989 Richard provided creative structural and line by line editing collaborating with Cynthia Kadohata on the completion of her acclaimed first novel --The Floating World.
It seemed that Richard might spiral forever in this organic world of anonymous gigs, bike rides to the museum and sourdough breadbaking , when a renewed interest in recording, sparked by a suggestion from the great jazz artist Paul Bley, led him to record his first CD's -- Compose Yourself -- solo, duo and trio improvisations --which recording engineer David Baker called great musicians, recording and performance." and Cadence Magazine called "engrossing and creative, seamless music..." and the painterly production of songs and improvisations from another single afternoon stream of consciousness session, Walk the Bike which Downtown Music Gallery called timeless and exquisite, an album which could have been made in the late 60's if they didn't know better.
Walk the Bike which reached # 1 at CFRC an enlightened college station (Canada's oldest ) in June 2003, was played and continues to be played on dozens of other public and college stations including Stanford's KZSU, and praised in reviews from Music Dish, Shredding Paper, All About Jazz (Italy),The Big Takeover etc..
Ghost , released in Sept. 2004, called Richard's most ambitious work by All About Jazz, reunites his early 80's trio with Brazilian great Valtinho Anastacio. Within a few weeks of it's release it climbed on to a dozen or so college and public radio top 10's such as KTUH chart from sept 2004
(KTUH Honolulu, HI 90.3 FM 6. MEDESKI MARTIN AND WOOD: End Of The World Party (Just In Case) 7. KEITH JARRETT/GARY PEACOCK/JACK DEJOHNETTE: The Out Of Towners 8. RICHARD BLIWAS: Ghost 9. ALICE COLTRANE: Translinear Light 10. WES MONTGOMERY: The Best Of
WAIH Potsdam, NY 90.3 FM 1. BLUES LOUNGE: Various Artists 2. JOE KAP ORGAN TRIO: Street Noise 3. RICHARD BLIWAS: Ghost
CMJ Jazz Report from KEUL 10/23/04 1 MATT WILSON Wake Up! 2 MEDESKI MARTIN AND WOOD End Of The World Party 3 CRITTERS BUGGIN Stampede 4 MATTHEW SHIPP Harmony And Abyss 5 DEEP BLUE ORGAN TRIO Deep Blue Bruise 6 MIKE FROST PROJECT Nothing Smooth About It 7 RICHARD BLIWAS Ghost
WMHB Waterville, ME 89.7 FM 1. BEN TANKARD: Piano Prophet 2. INCOGNITO: Adventures Of Black Sunshine 3. RICHARD BLIWAS: Ghost 4. CHRIS BOTTI: When I Fall In Love 5. 10. MUFFINS: Double Negative
and apperances or as with Ghost -- apparitions-- on playlists like WBRS Brandeis and Stanford's KZSU Zookeeper were becoming frequent . It was also praised in reviews from Cadence Magazine , All About Jazz , and All About Jazz (Italy).
Yarrow Stalk Bridge , released in June 2005 has followed in Ghosts' footsteps , with reviews from All About Jazz Italy , Downtown Music Gallery among others , and more college radio play like WNCW and top ten on a growing number of insightful stations like CKXU.
DMJ (who recently listed Walk the Bike in their top recommendations for 2005) states in it's July 1st 2005 newsletter which reviews Yarrow Stalk Bridge . "Richard is a truly gifted piano player and songwriter who should not go unnoticed for very long. "
Was Is --- released in May 2008 was quickly added and played at many college radio stations like WFMU , WNYU and CMAT reached number 1 at CFRU reviewed by Never Ending Wonder radio and DMG newsletter is available here , CD Baby , I-Tunes, Rhapsody and Downtown Music Gallery
Haunted Rag from Ghost was used in the PBS series Roadtrip Nation 2007.
Richard will make his national television debut later this summer appearing as a pianist on The Food Network.
MySpace page link
Link to Flicker Photo page
Olivia , from Ghost (Rising Rose Records 2004) featured on the All About Jazz Site and reached # 1 on friday october 13th on the All About Jazz (Italy ) top recent downloads where it stayed for a couple weeks
Walk the Bike Bio's
Ben Allison
The Bassist was named "One of the 25 rising jazz stars" by Downbeat Magazine, "Ben has one of the most original voices in modern jazz." (CD now) He is the founding member of the Jazz Composers Collective, a musician run organization based in New York. His album Third Eye was included in the top ten jazz CD's of 1999 by The New York Times, Boston Globe as well as several other publications. He has extensive credits performing in film, radio, and television. He has recorded extensively with top jazz musicians, and has worked with Richard since their 1997 gig with David Budway and Scott Cutchall at the Knitting Factory.
Ben Allison
The Bassist was named "One of the 25 rising jazz stars" by Downbeat Magazine, "Ben has one of the most original voices in modern jazz." (CD now) He is the founding member of the Jazz Composers Collective, a musician run organization based in New York. His album Third Eye was included in the top ten jazz CD's of 1999 by The New York Times, Boston Globe as well as several other publications. He has extensive credits performing in film, radio, and television. He has recorded extensively with top jazz musicians, and has worked with Richard since their 1997 gig with David Budway and Scott Cutchall at the Knitting Factory.
David Tronzo
A modernist, David is a devotee of the bottleneck slide guitar. He has worked on projects ranging from Spanish Fly for the San Francisco ballet to Robert Altman's film Short Cuts. Jazziz magazine has hailed him as, "The new hero of the slide guitar," and The New York Press named him "Best Guitar Player of the Year." New Yorker Magazine said of Tronzo "On a bad night, he sounds like Charlie Parker mixed with Jimi Hendrix. On a good night, he has to be seen to be believed," and Music Magazine named him "one of the 100 greatest guitar players of the 20th century."
A modernist, David is a devotee of the bottleneck slide guitar. He has worked on projects ranging from Spanish Fly for the San Francisco ballet to Robert Altman's film Short Cuts. Jazziz magazine has hailed him as, "The new hero of the slide guitar," and The New York Press named him "Best Guitar Player of the Year." New Yorker Magazine said of Tronzo "On a bad night, he sounds like Charlie Parker mixed with Jimi Hendrix. On a good night, he has to be seen to be believed," and Music Magazine named him "one of the 100 greatest guitar players of the 20th century."
Michael Blake
The gifted Saxophonist and composer is celebrating the release of his second CD Drift. His ensemble Free Association was awarded the Doris Duke Jazz Ensemble's Project Grant from Chamber Music America. Michael's lyrical work with John Lurie and the Lounge Lizards includes numerous recording dates, live concerts and soundtracks. His first gig in New York, back in 1987, was with Richard.
The gifted Saxophonist and composer is celebrating the release of his second CD Drift. His ensemble Free Association was awarded the Doris Duke Jazz Ensemble's Project Grant from Chamber Music America. Michael's lyrical work with John Lurie and the Lounge Lizards includes numerous recording dates, live concerts and soundtracks. His first gig in New York, back in 1987, was with Richard.
Rika Nakaya
A visual artist, Rika moved to New York in 1989 from Japan, where she received her Masters Degree from NYU, in 1991. Most of her recent works are 3 dimensional. Her work has been shown at ABC No Rio, PS122 Gallery, Art in General, Delta Axis, and others. She also has worked as art director in film and theater productions. Walk the Bike, her second CD design, includes a rich 32-page booklet, designed from a collection of Richard's photographs and letters. This lyrical booklet is interwoven with the tracks on the album and is included with the CD. Since Rika's known Richard from the beginning of her life in New York, she is very happy to be part of the production.
A visual artist, Rika moved to New York in 1989 from Japan, where she received her Masters Degree from NYU, in 1991. Most of her recent works are 3 dimensional. Her work has been shown at ABC No Rio, PS122 Gallery, Art in General, Delta Axis, and others. She also has worked as art director in film and theater productions. Walk the Bike, her second CD design, includes a rich 32-page booklet, designed from a collection of Richard's photographs and letters. This lyrical booklet is interwoven with the tracks on the album and is included with the CD. Since Rika's known Richard from the beginning of her life in New York, she is very happy to be part of the production.
Also appearing on Walk the Bike are percussionists Jamey Haddad and Renato Brasa, Joey"Sonny" Barbato on accordion,Ben Sher playing acoustic guitar on Yoga and cellist Tish Edens.
