Album guide
Chopin Pianoless
- Composer
- Chopin
- Released
- 2025
- Label
- ODD SOUND
- Forces
- Saxophone, Trumpet, Quartet
- Personnel
- Peter Cieslikowski tenor saxophone, Jacques Kuba Séguin trumpet and flugelhorn, Artie Roth bass, Steve Farrugia drums
The title Chopin Pianoless states Peter Cieslikowski’s experiment plainly: remove the instrument most closely associated with Chopin and see whether the music can stand on melody alone. Cieslikowski had been presenting the project in concert by 2021, arguing that Chopin’s melodic writing did not need its original harmonic support to generate contemporary jazz.
The recorded quartet replaces the keyboard with tenor saxophone and trumpet over bass and drums. That leaves the two horns free to suggest, challenge or temporarily withhold the harmony while preserving a recognisable melodic thread, making the absence of a piano the organising idea rather than a novelty.
Hear both
The classical side contains only the source pieces used on the album, in album order. The jazz side presents the complete album whenever a dependable copy can be embedded.
The listening queues above follow the same order. The classical player omits tracks that are not based on a classical original.
Spotify’s player is here for convenience; the full track listing below remains available to everyone.
Source works
The album’s complete track listing, with each classical source identified and original compositions marked plainly.
- Warsaw Impressions - IntroOriginal composition by Peter Cieslikowski
- Etude in C Minor, op.10, no.12Étude in C minor, Op. 10 No. 12 ‘Revolutionary’
- Mazurka in A Minor, op.17, no.4Mazurka in A minor, Op. 17 No. 4
- Prelude in C Minor, op.28, no.20Prelude in C minor, Op. 28 No. 20
- Prelude in E Minor, op.28, no.4Prelude in E minor, Op. 28 No. 4