About the Solo Piano Jazz Suite ‘Clarity of Vision’
As I look back in my early notes of September 2018, after some five years of continuous playing, improvising, composing and arranging on the piano, I noticed that I already wanted to name the three parts of my Stage 6 Jazz Suite ‘Sense of Purpose’, ‘Sense of Direction’ and ‘Sense of Urgency’. But ultimately I skipped these designations, because the three actual parts (solo, jazz trio and bonus respectively) of my jazz suite didn’t actually fit these designations. But now, finally, they do.
Clarity of Vision
In terms of what I aim for in my music I’ve always had a ‘clarity of vision’. I know exactly what I want and how I want it, and the execution of the various music projects under the wings of the NextSteps Series Solo Projects always came pretty close to that vision, given the obvious time constraints, budget limits and the technology of the time.
Clarity of vision has, by the way, always been a fundamental part of my life, both privately and professionally. As time progressed and my vision grew and amplified, I have always been busy removing constraints: conflicting thoughts, lack of resources, unwilling, unable or unskilled people. But when you have a clear vision, you need something more. A vision alone will get you nowhere. Please allow me to explain it this way:
1. Sense of Purpose
Every vision needs a sense of purpose. What are your goals, your objectives, what do you aim for exactly? What added value does it pertain? For whom? Without a sense of purpose the entire endeavor becomes a moot point, a random act, something superfluous.
2. Sense of Direction
But a sense of purpose without a sense of direction doesn’t make much sense. Knowing what you want to do but not being able to say where you want to go with it is just silly. What’s the point of wandering around aimlessly? So, you need purpose ánd direction. But that still doesn’t cover it.
3. Sense of Urgency
Without a sense of urgency, your sense of purpose and direction are dead in the water. Because ‘you gotta do what you gotta do’ when you are able to. Nów’s the time! Knowing what you want to do and where you want to go must be accompanied by a sense of speed, forward momentum, energy, passion, you know, SPUNK! When you know what you want and how and where, you just get crackin’. There’s no point in hesitating or procratinating, take care of it NOW, just GO, GO, GO!
Thát’s clarity of vision. And it has been the story of my life.
2021
Flipping through the pages of my note book I find myself back in February of 2021, smack down in the middle of the Corona Pandemic, contemplating my next moves to compose and arrange my second jazz suite, inhibited by the limitations the Corona virus had bestowed on all of us. I couldn’t go anywhere, not to perform or to find inspiration with other musicians playing.
2022
So, what could I do? Simple: all it takes to start a new music project is me, myself and I, and my faithful accustomed (*) Yamaha U1 piano at home. I assembled a list of songs and just snapped to it. During 2022 I kept adding songs, rearranging existing compositions, creating new ones, constantly perfecting structure and form. Some songs were added, some were rejected, some just organically merged with other ones or simply withered away.
(*) I play the U1 with the moderator pedal permanenly engaged, which turns the upright piano from a relatively cold and hard instrument into a gentle, soft, sweet playing composing devise.
By august of 2022 I had gathered around 50 songs in my playlist: swing, latin, waltz, blues, gospel, classic, ‘eclectic’ and (pop) ballads. Another 10 songs ended up in the ‘perhaps-category’ and needed additional work, making the total some 60 songs. I created three clusters as though they were playlists for live performances, with a mixture of styles in a natural order of playing.
2023
By March of 2023 I thought I had a ‘final list’, but that turned out to be premature. The work still underwent pretty significant changes, but the heart of the set of songs kept beating strongly. I kept working on it regularly all through 2023, playing a few hours on my faithful Yamaha U1, every day, as I normally do anyway.
2024
By the spring of 2024 I assembled a final playlist in three parts, at that time still under the designation ‘Jazz Suite Roots & Reflections II’. I kept finetuning the set lists al through the Spring and Summer of 2024, adding a few brand new compositions, changing some arrangements and changing the sequence of the songs.
I had to keep on playing all 60 compositions and arrangements continuously, mind you, because everything existed only in my head. I had no scores, only song titles, some chord notations and notes on structure and form. If I didn’t touch all songs weekly, details would start to flip and chord sequences and melodies would start to fade. It’s a lot of work for sure, but hey, I love/ live to play, so that’s what I did all through the summer, fall and winter of 2024/2025.
2025
By the spring of 2025 I had reduced the 60 songs to three sets of 15 final contestants for three separate purposes: (1) as a playlist, (2) as a recording list and (3) as the content of three separate CD’s. I still wrestled with the final title of the album and how to name the three different parts.
By the end of May 2025 the decision was final: I was going to call the album ‘Clarity of Vision’ and the three parts were going to be named (I) ‘Sense of Purpose’, (II) ‘Sense of Direction’ and (III) ‘Sense of Urgency’, as explained above. Now I only had to keep the set lists alive until I (1) found a recording studio, (2) agreed on a recording date and (3) chose the grand concert piano that was going to be the conduit of my music. No small task, so many posibilities, so many choices.
Finding a studio and agreeing on a recording date
By August of 2025 and with a little bit of help from my network, I gathered a short list of possible music recording studio’s within one hour of driving from my home. In September of 2025 I visited three of them, took a good look around and had some fine conversations about the set-up of my project, finally settling for one. I’m fortunate to say that I will be recording my solo jazz suite in the Volver Studio in Tilburg, which is perfectly suited for the execution of my music project.
We also agreed on a date. Stage 7 of my NextSteps Music Projects will come alive from Saturday 14th through Friday 20th of February of 2026. Just 45 compositions and 5 core days to record them in, it’s going to be quite the challenge indeed.
The great search for a suitable concert grand piano
It’s been a life long dream of mine to record my music solo on a grand concert piano of my own choosing. And of course it would be just swell if I was given the opportunity to do all that on one of the three great brands: Steinway, Bösendorfer or Bechstein. But, and this is vital for my project, size and brand actually don’t matter.
It’s not about the famous brand or the size of the grand piano, it’s all about the love I must feel for the colour of sound, the feel, the touch and timbre, the inspiration I draw from the chord formation, the bass, the mid tones, the high notes. The one Steinway isn’t the other, and trust me, during the years I’ve played all brands and sizes, old and new, in pristine condition and worn down to the bone, and sometimes it was the smallest grand piano with the least known brand name that stole my heart. Sometimes it wasn’t even a grand piano, as my faithful U1 at home proves to me every day. So with that clearly in my mind I started my search.
Fazioli F308
To make a long story short: In September of 2025 I emailed some 20 (grand concert) piano rental companies, visisted 7 of them during November, even one in Belgium, ultimately trying more than 50 candidates. I finally decided on one particular brand that I didn’t think I was going to go for: Fazioli. I’m very proud and pleased to announce that I will be recording my second solo jazz suite not on a Steinway D-274 or a Bechstein D-282, but on a Fazioli F308, rented to me with great care, service and precision by Evert Snel Piano’s en Vleugels in Werkhoven.
And yes, the Fazioli F308 is the largest grand piano in the world! With 3 meters and 8 centimeters it’s larger than the Steinway D274 (2 meters and 74 centimeters) and Bechstein D-282 (2 meters and 82 centimeters) and it is one heck of a grand piano. The sound is fenominal, touch and timbre are excellent and the ‘fourth pedal’ allows for great speed, accuracy and a ‘sweetness of tone’. I love it!
And I know I said that size didn’t matter, but this just happened to be the one, because it ticked all the boxes. I just fell in love with her. It could just as easily have been a smaller size and a different brand, but boy oh boy, whát a grand piano she is.
Herbie Hancock
To make matters even móre interesting: this was also the grand piano of choice of one of the great jazz pianists in the world, Herbie Hancock. He has actually played on this particular Fazioli with this serial number, on five occasions, of which one was at the North Sea Jazz Festival in Rotterdam. So you can imagine that adds some real specific value and sentiment to my project. I can’t wait to get started!
Current status
At the moment of writing – December of 2025 – I’m still working on the set lists, rearranging the order of playing somewhat and making adjustments and additions to the arrangements. I have visited the studio to go over the details of planning and execution (especially the transport and delivery of the Fazioli), and I will be meeting with my photographer and videographer to go over the details of their work.
2026
I expect to release my project on all streaming platforms by May of 2026, including a limited amount of ‘physical’ 3CD-albums, because, well, you know, I’m old school, I have to have something ‘physical’ I can touch and pass on.
It has been quite the journey so far, but it has been a lot of fun too, as always. It feels great to build something new around an original musical idea and watch it develop and grow over the years. And it will be quite satisfying to see my work finally published for everyone to hear.
Stay tuned for more!
