Soledad (A. Piazzolla) - Pieter Baert, piano

March 11th, 2021 - 100 years ago, Astor Piazzolla was born in Mar del Plata, Argentina.

After my last recording, which was more of a pop/rock ballad, I went back listening to Carlos Santana, one of my old heroes and influences, playing ‘Samba pa ti’.
My love for latin music began in Spain, I guess, on summer holiday back when I was about 15, when my sister bought an authentic flamenco guitar in Granada. Much later, I discovered salsa, and I experienced how much power a pianist can generate in live dance music, seeing elegant Cuban and Colombian couples flirting, and later, after the concert, disappear in the night, arms entangled.
And then Bach gave us so much harmony! My mum tells me when I was admitted to my first piano class, when I was 7, I played one of his Little Preludes, and I concluded by playing the whole piece again with just the harmonic changes.
Piazzolla was also inspired by Bach (like all musicians), and he brings, in origin, dance music; the beat is always there, like in jazz! That’s partly why his music is so universal I think, it’s passionate melody, enriched and supported by superior harmony, to the heartbeat of life. Listen how the milonga dance develops into a beautiful melody in Soledad. I love it, and I arranged it for piano solo.
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