This album contains mostly the artist's original compositions, but a considerable portion features Staples's interpretation of classic piano works including Bach, Ravel, Granados, Satie and Cole Porter. There is no doubt that the original piano works by Staples are in the minimalist genre made so popular by 21st century composers John Adams, Steve Reich, and Phillip Glass. But the listener will also hear the influence of the French and Spanish composers who Staples has woven into the album's 27 tracks. Staples's rhythms and chord structure call forth the poignancy and romantic power of the earlier masters, and yet were clearly written at the very edge of musical transition from post-modern to post-post-modern sound. Staples places himself at the center of a tradition of elegant piano composition, utilizing the essence of the piano to produce a symphonic experience. Growing up in Tucson, Staples studied piano and at age 9, was one of the youngest members of the Tucson Boys Chorus to be selected for the international touring group. But instead his family moved to Berkeley where he got involved immediately in arranging and directing elementary school concerts and helping out in the young people's chorus at his mom's seminary. By age eleven, he was again studying piano and was accepted into a music conservatory where he had to learn the double bass because it was primarily a stringed instrument school. He began composing while at the Berkeley Music Camp and at age 12, premiered his first work for orchestra and voice, which he also conducted. He continued composing and conducting in the Bay Area with the Berkeley and Oakland Symphonies until he received a full scholarship to the Eastman School of Music and moved to Rochester, N.Y. About the CD, Bill Cashman of Cavern Studios says: 'One of the finest, most energetic classical piano albums I have ever had the pleasure to record...a sublime eclectic blend of original and traditional classic piano.' Other comments from purchasers of this album have included: 'Gorgeous' ' Complex and fascinating' 'Sensuous' 'Some pieces are so sad, they actually make me cry.' 'I've never heard anyone interpret Granados so emotionally...totally not your standard playing of a Spanish work. ' 'That Cole Porter tune sounds like a movement from a piano concerto'. Carlos Sanchez-Gutierrez, one of Staples's composition professors at ESM, compared the central work on the CD--'Mirrors'-- to Ligeti's compositions for piano. 'This Story Iz About This Story' is Staples's first solo piano album, and he is currently working on two other cds that will include electronic rock as well as Staples on vocal and the guitar. He has also composed for radio bytes and hopes to work on film scores.
