For those unaware, with one foot in contemporary classical music and the other in jazz, Alvin Singleton’s (b. 1940) ability to unify both have yielded a unique and highly-recognizable amalgam.

Canadian pianist Jackie Leung, who has been fascinated with Singleton’s music for years, decided to bring it to the public by recording INSIDE OUT; the first album dedicated to all of Singleton’s solo piano works written between 1966–2022.

Amidst strong jazz influences, the music retains its classical roots: flowing between tonality and atonality, blending zesty rhythms with novel harmonies, and juxtaposing raw affect with high-precision virtuosity.

These works trace Singleton’s unmistakable musical fingerprint: vibrant rhythmic energy, bold contrasts, and a seamless synthesis of jazz-inflected freedom and contemporary classical craft.

Leung navigates the technical challenges as if they were a breeze, and in doing so, highlights the brilliance of Singleton’s voice in a dazzling performance.

1. Changing Faces
2. Cinque: I
3. Cinque: II
4. Cinque: III
5. Cinque: IV
6. Cinque: V
7. Greed Machine (for Vibraphone and Piano)
8. Baked In The Cake
9. Argoru I
10. Mutations
11. In My Own Skin
12. Inside-Out (for Piano Four-Hands)

With Singleton freely admitting that jazz continues to influence his music in subtle and not-so-subtle ways, his new recording opens on the spirited, gleamingly opulent Changes Faces and then we get the Cinque quintet: which opens on the flirtatiously cautious I, the veritably ethereal II, the stoically haunting III, and then both the promiscuously vibrant IV, closing on the spatial V.

Along next is the sensationally sculpted, and my own personal favorite of this new set Greed Machine (for Vibraphone and Piano) and that is in turn backed seamlessly by the engaging Baked In The Cake, the impassioned Argoru I, and the sweepingly ardent Mutations, the album rounding out on the resounding In My Own Skin, coming to a close on the delicately hued, at first, latterly free flowing, even skittish at times near 20 minute opus Inside-Out (for Piano Four-Hands).

Changing Faces [Official Video]

Official Purchase Links

www.alvinsingleton.com

www.jackieleung.com