David Chesky - The New York Rags

"Never has a title been more apropos — The New York Rags. David Chesky composed this suite of 18 sumptuous rags performed on a Yamaha DCFX Mark IV Disklavier Pro concert grand piano and as he tells us in the liner notes, 'You're living in New York City ... art reflects time and culture. So you take what's around you and you write. And in the end, is it symphonic? Is it jazz? It's a crossover. The way American music should be, like how Bernstein or Gershwin did it.' The pace of Chesky's New York Rags is, for the most part, frenetic and mimics life in the big city with its many touches of spice and flavors from other times and places. I immediately heard traces of Conlon Nancarrow, Gershwin, Bernstein, and Joplin with the skeletal structure of the Second Viennese School barely containing the jaunt and roll. Nice." — Michael Lavorgna, Audiostream.com