Open Heart

Halberstadt's playing is always beautiful and poetic. Someone once said that great art never looks like great art...this describes Randy's music perfectly.
JIGGS WHIGHAM

For pianist Randy Halberstadtʼs fifth album, he penned a set of compelling originals along with arranging several classics by Gershwin, Mancini, and even Chopin, orchestrated for an assortment of ensembles from trio to septet. Surrounding himself with some of the most respected members of the Northwest jazz scene, their long history together is apparent with their mutual admiration shining through in the music. A popular pianist, leader and sideman for decades, Halberstadt was also a key faculty member at the Cornish College of the Arts for over 40 years, a composer, author, and a featured soloist with the Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra.

Production Info:

Produced by Randy Halberstadt
Recorded & mixed by Reed Ruddy at Studio X, Seattle, WA
March 12-13, 2018
Mastered by Ross Nyberg at Nyberg Mastering, Issaquah, WA
Photography by Steve Korn
Cover design and layout by John Bishop

Reviews of Open Heart

All About Jazz (Paul Rauch)
4-STARS Seattle based pianist Randy Halberstadt has been a major figure on the jazz scene in the Pacific Northwest for several decades, applying his talents as a pianist, composer, educator, and author. He has four previous releases as a leader, most recently with Flash Point (Origin, 2010). So yes, it has been some time since we last heard from t ...

Midwest Record (Chris Spector)
41 years a teacher and he can still hit the ivories in late night/after hours fashion. A jazzbo to the core, he took his time getting this set together, from the writing to finding the right players, and if this is OCD, it has useful applications. Or it could just be strict attention to detail, so much so that it can make structure swing sounding s ...

WTJU (Dave Rogers)
Pianist/composer/teacher Randy Halberstadt offers his sixth release as a leader. He composed six of the nine songs on offer and each cover was written by Frederic Chopin, George Gershwin or Henry Mancini. The backing musicians include Chuck Deardorf (bass), Adam Kessler (drums), Ben Thomas (vibes), Jay Thomas (trumpet, flugelhorn, soprano sax), Mar ...

Earshot Jazz (Lucienne Aggarwal)
Randy Halberstadt, the well-regarded Seattle pianist, composer, bandleader, and longtime faculty member at Cornish College of the Arts, brings us his fifth album as a leader, titled Open Heart. While the cover art effects the typical Seattle winter scene—bareleafed trees and a gloomy atmosphere— this album is anything but grey. The music unr ...