Bent Notes

4 Nov 2022

Tim’s Ace Is High

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For years Tim Stevens did not want to play Standards because he felt that they had all been done so well before by so many great musicians, including pianists Keith Jarrett and Bill Evans.

However, during lockdown Tim decided that he would play one piece a day – being a combination of his own compositions, improvisations and standards – starting with the Londonderry Air – to which he received a huge response, encouraging him to include more standards into his “Quarantunes“, as Tim calls them.

Post lockdowns, the idea for Tim’s first album of standards germinated – the result of which is an album called The Ace Of Hearts is High, a collection of 10 great standards, given the Tim Stevens treatment, and featuring an image on the front cover that Tim took himself of a now non-existent MILK BAR sign on a local building. The final piece was a late entry as Tim realised before the session ended that he did not have a Waltz – he chose to place Disney’s When You Wish Upon A Star as the Waltz for the album. (interestingly it is not written as a waltz, but it comes across beautifully – a must hear piece)

Hear Tim talk about the recording process, enjoying the sounds of so many pianos across studios and performance spaces, and his want for Australian Jazz history to be better studied, researched and known by the public.

The Ace Of Hearts Is High is available on Bandcamp.

Tim Stevens was guest of Bent Notes on Sunday September 25, 2022
Bent Notes – 2 hours of Jazz and Improvised Music – 7 o’clock Sunday nights
JOY 94.9 – Out.Loud.Proud – Your Voice – Your Radio Station

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