Multiple Grammy, Brits and MTV Award winning musician, producer and composer, Alan Clark is a piano phenomenon who has played with and helped shape the music of so many iconic artists and contributors to the rich history of rock and roll, most notably on piano and keyboards with the legendary rock band Dire Straits, which he joined in 1980 and went on to co-produce. Inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2018, Clark’s numerous performances and hit recordings with a stellar array of artists including Eric Clapton, Tina Turner, Bob Dylan, the Bee Gees, Sting, Van Morrison and Rod Stewart, to name just a few, have made him one of the world’s most in demand and influential musicians over four decades.
You could call Alan Clark a unicorn in the world of music, firstly because he dared to play a classic piano on rock and roll stages, and now with his breath-taking and extraordinary album, ‘BACKSTORY’, Clark retraces the biggest hits he played on during the past forty years and re-interprets the tracks that left the deepest impression upon him into newly classically arranged pieces for solo piano.
With exquisite technique and ingenious flair for tonal colour Alan Clark’s virtuosic command over the most delicate or strenuous complexities never compromises the formidable depth and intelligence of his interpretations, that drew the attention of Italian music producer Alberto Fabris (Ludovico Einaudi), who invited Clark to perform solo at The Milan Piano City Festival in 2019. Fabris saw at first-hand, how the solo Clark affected an audience that swelled from 200 to over 2,000 before the set’s conclusion. Suitably enthused, he duly set about the arduous task of convincing a reluctant Clark to record ‘BACKSTORY’. Tentatively Alan Clark warmed to the unique task and ‘BACKSTORY’ was produced by Fabris and recorded at Peter Gabriel’s Real World Studios for Ponderosa Music Records.
Prior to release, singles from the album and accompanying music videos have been featured exclusively by Pianist Magazine. These include Alan Clark’s solo piano interpretations of Dire Straits classics ‘Romeo and Juliet’ and ‘Going Home’, and ‘Private Dancer’ (Tina Turner). The album has also been receiving extensive radio-play on Classic FM, in particular ‘Brothers in Arms’.
A ‘Backstory’ tour is in planning for 2022, but in the interim Alan Clark will be performing a unique and intimate live concert to debut tracks from the album. ‘An Evening with Alan Clark’ is at 8pm on Monday 1st November at Heath Street Baptist Church, Hampstead. London NW3 1DN. Buy tickets
here.
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