miguel
kertsman
new
release
paradoxes

Experience Paradoxes, the newest musical odyssey from Brazilian-American musician Miguel Kertsman. As a multi-hyphenate, Kertsman has composed, produced, arranged, conducted and played keyboards across a diversity of genres such as contemporary classical, jazz, rock, and world music, but Paradoxes is a special affair, a personal foray into the progressive rock styles which inspired him in his youth. “I have always been fascinated by paradoxes — whether as curiosities found in science, astrophysics or math, or in everyday human behavior,” says Kertsman, “Growing up, I was surrounded by classical music and Jazz, and the incredibly rich musical life of Brazil. Moving to New York later introduced me to even more musical languages. But as a child, it was the Progressive Rock bands of the time that truly captivated me.”

Paradoxes is a concept album whose parts are all played live-in-the-space on original vintage instruments, along with drums, bass, guitars, and vocals, captured through only a few microphones. Fans of vintage synths will be delighted to hear the classic, warm tones of a grand piano, pipe organ, harpsichord, Minimoogs, Mellotron, Prophet 10...

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An album of keyboards-driven prog rock familiar to fans of Yes, Genesis, and Pink Floyd might seem like an unintuitive move for a composer whose work has been recorded by

the London Philharmonic Orchestra, but Miguel doesn’t necessarily see it that way. "The music of progressive rock paralleled the classical music I knew: it embraced longer forms, told stories across multiple movements and songs, balanced instrumental passages with lyrics, and fearlessly pushed boundaries.”

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Paradoxes are worth taking time to disentangle this fall, for those who like their synthesizers warm, their playing virtuosic, and their rock prog.