a cup of coffee and a slice of time

Rejoice! One of Two New Records is NOW AVAILABLE!!!
Michael Clay the man with four hands Plays the Music
of Adrian Belew and King Crimson!

truly when I hear michael clay play some of his rolling arpeggios
I think "he must have four hands" but I have met the elusive
concert pianist and if he does have four he hides them well.

michael's touch on the piano keys is as should be expected
from an artist who routinely tackles the demanding works
of the great master composers in concerts across the world.
he is at times delicate, at times bombastic, but always
surprising in his harmonic choices and cataclysmic
performances. this is a man who must practice hours
on end each day to keep his abilities fine tuned.
and it shows.

so why is a virtuoso concert pianist playing songs of mine?

search me. michael clay has seen every incarnation
of king crimson ever to tour the U.S. from 1970 onward.
so we know he is a glutton for punishment.
for the true story of the genesis of this record
see the blog called "Michael Clay Plays The Music
Of Adrian Belew And King Crimson" from 11/07.

michael has discovered through his improvisations of
these songs a way to somehow affect the heart
and the head simultaneously. no easy feat.

for the most part coffee is solo piano performances.
it will not rid you of any junk in your trunk.
nor will your booty shiver and jiggle helplessly.
it will not implore you through poetic device to
surrender yourself to the lust of another.
there are no words. no singing. no bouncy backbeat.
no repetitive chorus to stick on the walls of your mind.
no loud raucous jangly guitars. no thumping bass riffs.

just the pleasure of hearing a man seemingly
with four hands expertly performing decent pieces
of songwriting from yours truly and in two cases
from the 1980's line up of king crimson i.e.
robert fripp, tony levin, bill bruford and me.

for me personally it is an honor to have michael
chose to render my work in such a way.
I hope you enjoy it as much as I do, but I want
to be clear in warning you of its content.
it is mostly solo piano improvisations.

michael and I chose these songs:

the lone rhinoceros (with cello accompaniment)
bad days
the man in the moon
time waits
frame by frame
intermission (guitar only*)
fly
she is not dead
sleepless
union terminal (guitar and piano improv duet**)

* intermission is a new musique concrete piece
created by me on solo midi-guitar for the purpose of
clearing the air in the midst of such keyboard frenzy.

** union terminal is an improvisation by michael
and me (electric guitar and piano only) with an aural
backdrop of the sounds you might hear in a grand old
train terminal such as the one in cincinnati, ohio
which is in fact called union terminal.

the title a cup of coffee and a slice of time
you may recognize as a line from the song 1967.
an artist named rob sinkus sent me the gift
of the above photo he made in 1992 titled after the lyric.
I liked it so much it has always hung in the kitchen
of StudioBelew where it remains today.

oh, and it case you are wondering, yes, it is
the music you heard playing in the background
after our concerts.

a cup of coffee and a slice of time
is NOW AVAILABLE for pre-ordering at StoreBelew.
we expect to have copies in our hands in 2 weeks
and to be ready to send them to you immediately.

if it sounds like your cup of tea, er, coffee
order your copy now.