D. Treut

Introducing ‘The WAY’ EP, The 2nd of 5 releases of EPs that Treut produced, wrote and recorded in his Bushwick Loft in ‘19, a follow up to ‘The Bigfoot Blues’ EP. Primarily known as a drummer, for this recording Treut chose to put himself in the piano chair. The songs he wrote were inspired by James Booker, Harry Nillson and Kurt Cobain. Treut, Jost & Elmes had spent years playing together in D.Treut’s 9 piece band. He wanted to hear the rhythm section stripped down to the bare piano trio. He was looking for a raw, ‘unproduced’ sound for this recording. All are sonically and emotionally bare in this setting; all live takes, no overdubs, recorded in one large unforgiving warehouse loft room. You can hear his primal screams bleeding through the drum mics! On the heels of great piano trios like The Bad Plus, the trio forges a sound that molts Jazz, Singer/Songwriter, Modern Jazz, 60’s/70’s Pop & 90’s Grunge Anthems.

The music on the EP’s 7 tracks are a kaleidoscopic view of 20th Century piano-lead pop and jazz music. It starts with ‘Rhapsody in Blues’ a New Orleans Professor Longhair second line jangle. Into ‘Who Are You’ a palatial rock ballad about proving yourself to life. ‘Pick Yourself’ is a dancy caribbean jam into a whirlpool and bank. ‘Bleach Soaked Despair’ is a take on ‘grunge’ piano. ‘Transforming Again’ was inspired by The Beatles and Esperanza Spalding. ‘I’ve Never Done This Before’ is a reminder to be gentle when you’re learning something new about yourself and life. ‘I’m Soo GodDamned Happy’ is a manic track that begs to ask, are you okay? All these tracks coming together, create a smooth 25 minute ride. Almost like a Suite, this EP stands on its own, as its own work. Heavy subjects approached with sincere raw emotion and a near cheeky indifference. There’s not much to interpret under the layers as Treut bares all.

D. Treut started learning how to play piano at the age of 5 at Milan’s venerated opera house ‘La Scala’. His study took him through college where he studied with Frank Kimbrough at NYU. In the mid 2010’s DT played piano almost nightly at Goodbye Blue Monday after hours. While working on his repertoire of singer/songwriter piano music, he’s also kept up his Debussy, Chopin and Bach chops.

For the EP Release Show the personnel is D. Treut - Piano/Vox, Rob Jost - Bass (Bjork/Imogen Heap), Dan Reiser - Drums (Norah Jones/Roseanne Cash)