Drawing from periods of isolation spanning a 2017 residency and the early pandemic, pianist Marta Sanchez presents a solo prepared piano work that transforms the instrument into a layered, multi-voiced sound world, where interlocking rhythms, fragile textures, and introspective passages of free improv reflect contrasting emotional states shaped by solitude, vulnerability, and a deeply internal creative process.
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Marta Sanchez-prepared piano
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Label: Out Of Your Head Records
Catalog ID: OOYH 043 LP
Squidco Product Code: 37399
Format: LP
Condition: New
Released: 2026
Country: USA
Packaging: LP
Recorded at Opus Studios in Berkeley, California, in February, 2024, by Adam Munoz.
"This solo prepared piano record grew out of periods of isolation and solitude, shaped by two very different emotional landscapes. The music began in 2017 during a residency at MacDowell, where I applied with the intention of experimenting with piano preparation and confronting a long standing fear: playing solo piano. I had always been uncomfortable exposing myself alone at the instrument, and creating a solo project felt like the most direct way to face that fear - and grow through it.
At the time, I was interested in translating my compositional language - built around layers, interlocking rhythms, and counterpoint - into a single timbre. Preparation became the solution: by altering the piano's sound, I could create multiple internal voices, transforming one instrument into a small ecosystem of contrasting textures. MacDowell was an intense and solitary experience. I lived alone in a remote cabin, surrounded by woods and snowstorms, often spending entire days without seeing anyone. That isolation, combined with a sense of vulnerability and self-doubt, deeply informed the music written there. The pieces from that period carry a quiet melancholy, fragility, and a raw openness.
After the residency, I became absorbed in writing for other projects - ensemble music, quintet work - and the solo pieces remained unfinished. It wasn't until the beginning of the pandemic that this music truly resumed. In those first weeks of lockdown, I texted a close friend suggesting that this was the moment to finally focus on our solo projects. We challenged each other to write one piece a week, keeping one another accountable and creatively energized during an uncertain time.
Once again, I was writing in isolation, but the emotional context had shifted: the music composed during this period reflects a more intense inner world, shaped by loss, love, uncertainty, and existential questions. If the MacDowell pieces emerge from loneliness and lack of confidence, the pandemic pieces come from emotional saturation - obsessive cycles, abstraction, and a heightened interior life.
Together, the album traces two forms of solitude, processed through different emotional lenses. During the early stages, each piece was written with a highly specific and complex piano preparation. However, after performing the music live for the first time, it became clear that changing preparations between pieces was impractical, often requiring long pauses. In response, I re-imagined the setup and arrived at a simpler, flexible preparation that could serve most of the repertoire with only minimal adjustments. Out of respect for the instruments and the concerns of venues, all preparations use gentle, non-invasive materials such as paper, Blu-Tack, and tape."-Out Of Your Head
Also available as a Compact Disc.Artist Biographies
• Show Bio for Marta Sanchez "Born and raised in Madrid, Spain, pianist and composer Marta Sánchez is actively working in the contemporary creative music scene in New York City and around the globe. Charting a significant path through her innovative and original music, she has reached an international audience, gaining significant global recognition. Marta's main project, her quintet, was created soon after she moved to New York, and since then has released four albums: "Partenika" (2015), "Danza Imposible" (2017), and "El Rayo de Luz" (2019) with the Spanish label Fresh Sound and SAAM (Spanish American Art Museum) with Whirlwind Recordings. All of the albums received high praise from American press. "Partenika" received great reviews from The New York Times, Downbeat, All Music, All About Jazz,and many more. Not only that, but the recording was selected by The New York Times as one of the 10 best albums of 2015, including all genres, and it was also included on the lists of the best recordings of the year from the Jazz Journalist Association, Downbeat and All Music. The quintet's next work, "Danza Imposible" was reviewed and highly praised in the famous public radio program"Fresh Air", it got 4 stars from DownBeat, an excellent review from The New York TImes, on Nate Chinen's program at WBGO, and it was also included in some lists of the best of 2017. "El Rayo de Luz" was also included in the The New York Times list of the Best 10 jazz albums of 2019, it was the editor's pick of the December issue of Downbeat, got a four stars review also in Downbeat from Giovanni Russonello, it was featured on WBGO's program "The Checkout" and a long etc. SAAM (Spanish American Art Museum) was reviewed at The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Downbeat, Jazzwise and a long etc. After "Danza Imposible", Marta's music has been the subject of articles in publications including Jazziz and The New York Times. In addition to her quintet, Marta recently released a new record with her trio, featuring Savannah Harris on drums and Chris Tordini on bass, titled "Perpetual Void" on the Intakt label. The album has been widely praised, including receiving 4.5 stars from Downbeat. Marta has toured the United States, Europe, South America, and Central America, performing as a leader or as a sideman at prestigious venues and prominent festivals such as the North Sea Jazz Festival in the Netherlands, Jazzaldia in San Sebastian, Inntone in Austria, Eurojazz in Mexico City, Eurojazz in Athens, Jazz Festival Vitoria Gasteiz, Winter Jazz Festival in New York, and Madrid, among many others. In the United States, she has performed at some of the most prestigious clubs including the Carnegie Hall, Blue Note, Village Vanguard, Birdland, Roulette, Dizzy's Jazz, The Jazz Gallery, The 55 Bar, Smalls, Mezzrow among many others. Furthermore, Marta has been actively collaborating with other artists, playing and recording in David Murray's Quartet, Maria Grand's duo, and the Anna Weber and Angela Morris Big Band, among others.. She received prizes for the best soundtrack for short film in the festivals Alcalá de Henares, Curtficcion in Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca. In 2017 and 2021 she received the prestigious grant for a residency from the MacDowell Colony, where Marta wrote prepared piano repertoire." ^ Hide Bio for Marta Sanchez
4/29/2026
Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.
Track Listing:
1. Frost Bloom 4:17
2. Inward Loop 3:41
3. Snowing In The Woods 3:02
4. Estalagtita 5:45
5. Espejos 2:02
6. Echolord 4:01
7. The Regret 5:16
8. Pygmora 4:20
9. One For Blake 4:17
April 2026
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