Disklavier

Given the wide range of musical tastes amongst Disklavier owners, 
I'm usually not inclined to post anything about the PianoSoft
disks I enjoy.

However, I recently discovered a real 'gem' that has immediately 
become a favourite for the Christmas season and I what to share it 
with others.

The disk is called `Gabriel's Message: Christmas Suite for
Solo Piano' by Matt Herskowitz.  The disk is a collection of
traditional Christmas songs played in a non-traditional way. It's 
very refreshing and Matt's playing is impressive. Matt's
interpretation of many holiday classics is best characterized as a 
crossover between middle-of-the-raod, jazz and classical styles.  
Excellent! It's very reasonably priced at $19.95 (mostly due to
lack of song royalties).

The disk is a bit elusive to find on Yamaha's website as it's
tucked away on the  Disklavier's Users page inside the `New
York City Rising Star Series' collection.  Here's the link:

www.yamahamusicsoft.com/index.php?
action=ProductDetail&product_id=1020945

Here's the Yamaha URL for Matt's bio:
www.yamahamusicsoft.com/index.php?action=RisingStar&artist=matt

Although I know Matt's name through my days living in Montreal, I 
was not aware that he had produced a disk for Yamaha.  For those 
interested, Matt's homepage is at:
www.mattherskowitz.com

For more info on the `Gabriel's' Message' disk, see: 
www.mattherskowitz.com/pages/framesmaingabriel.html

Check it out!

Note that this disk is ONLY available as a download from the Yamaha 
web site.  This requires that you first download and install 
Yamaha's `Musicsoft Downloader' (MSD) program:
www.yamahamusicsoft.com/index.php?action=GetPianoSoft

Installation is easy.  Once the downloader program is installed, 
it's a simple matter of purchasing the disk on-line and when you 
proceed to download any of the PianoSoft disks, the Yamaha Musicsoft 
Downloader program takes over.  You'll be asked to insert a blank 
2DD or 2HD diskette into you floppy drive and the downloader program 
will create a standard E-SEQ disk.  I've done this for a few
disks without any problem.

Also, I'd be happy to hear from anyone who feels strongly about 
Christmas music they would like to recommend for the Disklavier.  
Thanks to Todd Muncy for his posting (#3351) about Kendell Healy's 
off-the-cuff original arrangements of seven Christmas classics.


Season's Greetings,

Robert LeBlanc