Search - Steve Rashid :: As In A Mirror

Since 1992, Steve Rashid, an award-winning composer, musician and music producer, has made the creation of family-related audio products a primary focus of his career. With As In A Mirror, his third solo CD for Woodside Avenue Music Productions, Rashid's focus shifts to one of spirituality. The inspiration and intent behind this collection of solo piano improvisations comes from a desire to explore a private spiritual side, while allowing listeners to enjoy the music on any level they choose. With the release of As In A Mirror Rashid explores a new area of music for one who has composed and played jazz most of his life. For the past several years, Rashid has been accompanying the choir at the Catholic church his family attends. One Sunday, needing some music during a meditation, the choir director asked Rashid if he would play a piano piece. He decided to improvise a meditation, which the congregation enjoyed, and which led to the improvisations becoming a regular part of the services during which Rashid plays. With these meditations in mind, and armed with a selection of biblical passages, Rashid retreated to his recording studio to create As In A Mirror. The resulting piano improvisations were directly inspired from both Old and New Testament passages, and reveal jazz, gospel and contemporary classical influences. Rashid considers each selection an abstraction, or indirect reflection of the text, and hopes that the spiritual nature of the music will appeal to people of many faiths. He comments, "Although my personal beliefs are quite specific, they are also quite private. It is not my intent to tell people what to believe. I do know, however, that I feel most centered when I allow myself to go to that quiet place where my innermost beliefs are held. And when I go there, this music is the result. With it I am simply trying to provide a vehicle to help other people visit that same meditative or prayerful place within themselves." None of this, however, is to deny Rashid's own background, and for people who may be interested, the scriptural passages from which the pieces were inspired are included in the liner notes.