Still by Colin Bass & Daniel Biro

As the title of this collaborative project between Colin Bass (vocals, bass, piano) and Daniel Biro (keyboards, synths) suggests, ‘Still’ is a collection of meditative, ambient songs that range from intimate personal stories to global human topics. While Bass leads on all vocals, instrumentally the dialogue is between his melodic bass playing and Biro’s layered Rhodes electric piano and analogue synth arrangements. Finnish acoustic guitarist Joonas Widenius was asked to contribute on two tracks.

In 1977, when he was 14 years old, Daniel Biro attended a week-long Summer music seminar in the Alps resort of Les Arcs. He met many weird and wonderful musicians but especially American composer and multi-instrumentalist Jim Cuomo (amongst other things a pioneer of early 8-bit computer games music) who was there to lead the jazz/ rock/pop workshops together with his group The Casual Band. The bass player was Colin Bass, who had just left the Steve Hillage Band and was about to become a permanent member of prog group Camel. A friendship developed with both Cuomo and Bass which went beyond that particular encounter and they have kept in touch ever since.

In 2014 Bass and Biro started discussing the idea of working together on an album of songs where each one would contribute an equal number of compositions. With Bass now living in Wales and Biro in London all the work was done remotely. But despite the distance they developed an immediate symbiotic understanding of what the project should be. The almost complete absence of drums gives the songs a floating sense of space and timelessness. From the pattern-based ‘Summer’ to the freeform ‘The Man Who Never Was’, and from the sparse minimalism of ‘Once Was a Time’ to the epic ‘Heaven’, ‘Still’ draws the listener in to a place of quiet emotions and nostalgic reflection. Recently, the song ‘Old Europe’, originally written as an ode to Europe, has taken on new and topical meanings.

‘Still’ is dedicated to the memory of Jim Cuomo who sadly passed away in 2018.

Composer, keyboard player, producer, improvisor, songwriter, sound designer who loves the Rhodes electric piano + analog synths and makes jazz-fusion / electronic / ambient / art-prog / experimental music. From solo projects to working with his bands Echo Engine and Mysteries Of The Revolution, to film soundtracks, Daniel's unique cosmopolitan sound is at the centre of his multi-faceted universe.

danielbiro.com
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