Steve Luck

Steve Luck is from Newcastle Upon Tyne in the UK, and he composes quiet, emotional, and pure solo piano music. Besides releasing these heartfelt vignettes, Luck has also composed for film and television, and in 2007, he won two awards from the Royal Television Society for professional excellence in music. A few years ago, I featured his piece on the Contemplative Classical playlist, which I have been curating on and off [hmm, I really should get back into updating it]. Today, he is appearing on this sincere platform recommending honest music with his piece called “Be Curious”, which will be released on the same-titled album tomorrow, November 24th. I’ve got a quote from Steve where he shares some thoughts about the track, but frankly, all you have to do is play it, and you would not need any words.

I saw a t-shirt slogan online that said, ‘Be Curious, Not Judgemental’ I like this idea. It seems like a positive way to encourage an appreciation of nuance and to help prevent the arguments and polarisation of views which regularly flare up, particularly online, as a consequence of fake news, disinformation, lies and misattributed quotes. In fact this phrase, in a modern day equivalent of the kids game Chinese whispers, has been misattributed to Walt Whitman. The phrase became the inspiration for this piece. It hints at an open mindedness that I appreciate, and I intended the piece to be an invitation to embrace curiosity as a path to enlightenment. I tried to evoke a quiet, contemplative, mysterious atmosphere and took inspiration from the piano works of Erik Satie.

— Steve Luck

Once again, the full album is out tomorrow, November 24th, available as a digital release, self-released on Luck’s own Atmospherica Recordings. Also, if you’re interested, you can watch Luck play “Be Curious” on this video. Really makes me want to return to my piano…