Denman Maroney

Denman Maroney (1949-) is known for his hyperpiano technique (playing the keys with one hand and the strings with other using slides and bows of metal, plastic, rubber, and wood) and temporal harmony (composing and improvising in multiple tempos). He has composed over 90 works and recorded over 50 albums (35 as a leader) with Dave Ballou, Theo Bleckmann, Michael Dessen, Mark Dresser, Andrew Drury, Min Xiao Fen, Robin Fincker, Ratzo Harris, Shelley Hirsch, Earl Howard, James Ilgenfritz, Leroy Jenkins, Lisa Karrer, Rudresh Mahanthappa, Bob Meyer, Angelika Niescier, Kevin Norton, Ned Rothenberg, Rich O’Donnell, Michael Sarin, Samuel Silvant, David Simons, Hans Tammen, Scott Walton, and Matthias Ziegler among others. Among his teachers were Jimmy Garrison and James Tenney. He earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from Cal. Inst. of the Arts and has won fellowships from Chamber Music America, National Endowment for the Arts, NY Foundation for the Arts, NY State Council on the Arts, Arts Council of Rockland (NY), Michigan Arts and Culture Council, Jerome Robbins Foundation, Mary Flagler Cary Charitable Trust, Music Omi, and Yale Summer School of Music and Art. His writings are published in John Zorn’s Arcana VI and Georg Graewe’s grubenklang: reloaded. He moved from New York to France in 2020. For more information see www.denmanmaroney.com.

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Album Review

Billabong by Glenn Astarita
Gaga by Marc Medwin
Udentity by Troy Collins
Udentity by Glenn Astarita
Solo @70 by Karl Ackermann

September 01, 2020

All About Jazz Top 10 Tracks: August 2020

"There are few minds as agile and inquiring as that of pianist, composer and educator Denman Maroney. Over nearly 40 years, he has managed to rethink the piano’s vocabulary, creating a readily identifiable language on the instrument. He calls his contribution “hyperpiano”, a method of playing inside the piano that is characterized by a dizzying and diverse pallet of sonorities that make the instrument into an orchestra. He has also developed an equally unique compositional language involving combined pulses, employing the phrase “temporal harmony” to describe it. Yet, there is a directness, at times almost a simplicity, in his music. With his playing and in his compositions, Maroney combines musical genres and transforms sounds we think we understand, adding depth and color, often at great speed, while never sacrificing clarity."