EXIT - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• DIVING
• Piano" ( Album Review )
• the Watching Bird" & "the Rip Rig & Panic Piano Solos" ( Album Reviews )
• the Watching Bird" ( Album Review )

"...I can say the same thing for Springer's album Diving. It is a warm bath of soothing piano meanderings, it registers somewhere beyond the conscious mind, you can feel some part of your inner most psyche appreciating, luxuriating and rotating its shoulders in a very satisfied manner to the music..." "...This year sees two new releases by Mark Springer, a musician and composer of dedicated craftsmanship who has honed his skills in everything from off-theIN MARK SPRINGER'S WORK, THERE IS A PRESENCE OF EMOTIONAL DISTORTION THAT PUSHES FORWARD A STRIKING NARRATIVE OF SIGNATURES AND CHORDS...." "...Springer's style virtuosic and sometimes emotional. There's not a great deal of jazz interest (if that's what you're looking for... it shouldn't be an issue) in fact hardly any. ‘Spontaneous Composition' at the end comes closer and there is a Jarrettian power to some of the solo piano work..." Pianist and composer Mark Springer first gained widespread recognition with experimental Bristolians Rip Rig & Panic: an avant-pop collective also featuring a youthful Neneh Cherry and two former members of The Pop Group. They barely registered with the mainstream, but recorded three critically acclaimed (and recently reissued) LPs for Virgin before abruptly splitting during 1983. Springer has since pursued a nomadic, left-field solo career, kicking off in 1984 with Piano. A self-explanatory 15-track collection of solo improvisations, it was originally released through the Illuminated imprint, but only belatedly receives its CD debut on its 30th anniversary. Superficially, Piano's sonic premise is identical to Springer's higher-profile Menu, released by Virgin in 1991. Both LPs stem from solo studio performances performed on Steinway concert grand pianos, though Piano is by some way the more accessible of the two. Never sitting comfortably with either jazz or avant-garde, it inhabits an introspective space between; its ever-changing moods countenance everything from the gentle, rippling nocturnes of Krix to the dextrous, Bill Evans-esque Catsefee. As with the expanded 2013 reissue of Menu, this new edition of Piano is bolstered by the addition of a clutch of previously unreleased tracks. Though all are highly accomplished, the languid The More Things Change and balmy, contemplative Kleine Mann surely rank among Springer's finest ever recordings. Mark Springer was one of the more forward-thinking figures to lead Bristol's post-punk scene in the early 1980s. His work as a pianist in one of the most exciting bands to come out of the era, jazz-punkers Rip, Rig and Panic, exhibited a freeform lucidity that paid respect to both jazz and classical and was undeniably punk in spirit. Check out his work on the band's most gorgeous, supple number "Sunken Love", and you hear Carla Bley channeling Karol Szymanowski while backing Marvin Gaye. At heart, Springer was always spiritually linked to the most important composers who laid the groundwork for modern classical music (like Stravinsky and the aforementioned Szymanowski) and his work on Menu clearly voices his love for the piano. Menu is essentially a commitment to the instrument, a collection of songs that detail a lifelong dedication of work that has seen him through his formative years as an artist and through the freedom days of punk. Numbers such as the pensive, contemplative "The Downs" convey an almost curious circuitry of anxiety, a moment of indecision where the notes wind round and round endlessly in a quietly growing panic. Other tracks, such as "Bellissima", flush with a romantic glow that is as pressing as it is subdued. Springer doesn't forget his dealings with Rip, Rig and Panic. "Shook the Atmosphere" is a nervous, twitchy roundabout which has the artist pummeling the keys with the applied pressure of a madman while the multi-tonal, painterly drips of "Kroogspiel" are fraught with the memories of his wild days in a punk band. Though his otherworldly virtuosity was one of the key elements of hip early 80s avant-jazz collective Rip Rig + Panic, pianist Mark Springer has kept a relatively low profile since. Springer is a pianist with prodigious amounts of stamina and invention ...there's a strong natural form and line to his playing that makes him surprisingly accessible. On EYE, Springer plays contemplative pieces, with a touch of Bill Evans, a sprinkling of Grieg and Chopin... a meditative, beguiling and assured record from a mature talent who has found his inner voice.