Ian Herman: Images

Posted on March 31, 2022 by Alix Cohen in Playing Around

Ian Herman cut his teeth on classical music, spent formative years with Broadway and now arranges/ accompanies cabaret and concert performers. The musician sees colors, images as he writes his own compositions. I see full scenarios when I listen. This is a storyteller. Though he certainly has a style, the artist can evoke any era, conjure any mood. This, his first solo CD, offers ballads, blues, bop, tango, a western, and classically influenced tunes. Pieces are sure, vivid; technique impressive. There are times one imagines hearing four hands. My advice is close your eyes, get comfortable, and take the journey.

Impressions

6/8: exuberance…whirling, rolling down a hill, swinging from a tree…a child’s merry-go-round…giddy laughter. He/she loves me! I got the job, the role, the house!  I’m Cancer free! Breathless…arms wide…standing under a waterfall. Come with? Yes! Like swallowing clouds.

Lost Princess: Once upon a legend. Milkweed pods floating on a breeze…mist rising from a lake, shimmering dragonflies…delicate, wistful…watercolor. Memories rise like a flock of birds, a revolving movieola. Slow breathing; a small, sweet smile. Where did that come from? Waking dreams. Stay, oh stay.

Bop: Sharkskin Zoot suits, braces on exaggerated shoulders, spats. Jitterbug. Pimp cars. Cool cats with innate rhythm. Dice in the alley. Hip action. Smoky cellar jazz. Cartoon-like. Dick Tracy? Dense drive. Transactional eyebrow raising.

Edwina: Whipping, confrontational wind. Brutal tango, blazing eyes, sharp moves, strapped shoes, slick hair, high slits. Slide, dip, turn, turn, turn, stride. Her leg between his. A second man enters, claims possession. Fight? Who’s the better dancer/entitled? Nostrils flare. Ripped from one by the other. Thrown to the floor… which clears to allow the scene- to work itself out. Stomp, grab, dip…

Studio Improv 1: Autumn. Bittersweet…ghosts, socks, brandy, cats. Alone but not lonely. Content…unselfconscious boogie around the room. WTF. Yeah! Studio Improv 2: Airbrushed sunset in the emptying park. Studio Improv 3: The proud, slow, stylish tango of an elderly couple.

2 Fast: Chaotic backstage at Hellzapoppin’. Blue in F: The sashay of a flâneur. A Minor: Powerful, classically influenced, hard-won freedom. F Major Encore: Flickering light. A solitary ballerina going through paces in an empty studio… dowagers at tea…a little boy’s bedtime story- not flowery, rekindled hope.

Solo Piano- Ian Herman
Recording Engineer-Robert Hanlon

CD Cover Helane Blumfield

Now available wherever CDs are sold

About Alix Cohen (1989 Articles)
Alix Cohen is the recipient of ten New York Press Club Awards for work published on this venue. Her writing history began with poetry, segued into lyrics and took a commercial detour while holding executive positions in product development, merchandising, and design. A cultural sponge, she now turns her diverse personal and professional background to authoring pieces about culture/the arts with particular interest in artists/performers and entrepreneurs. Theater, music, art/design are lifelong areas of study and passion. She is a voting member of Drama Desk and Drama League. Alix’s professional experience in women’s fashion fuels writing in that area. Besides Woman Around Town, the journalist writes for Cabaret Scenes, Broadway World, TheaterLife, and Theater Pizzazz. Additional pieces have been published by The New York Post, The National Observer’s Playground Magazine, Pasadena Magazine, Times Square Chronicles, and ifashionnetwork. She lives in Manhattan. Of course.

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