British pianist and composer Alexander Hawkins is one of Europe’s most innovative pianists, working in a variety of creative contexts and always constructing a unique sound world. As a style-defining and imaginative voice in contemporary jazz, Hawkins provides further testimony to the art of his solo playing, six years after his last solo album (Intakt #330). Song Unconditional is as playful as it is intense – firmly rooted in tradition, yet endlessly searching and adventurous. Each of the 13 short pieces explores one or more expressive possibilities of the piano and are, in the words of Adam Shatz in the liner notes, “... marvels of compressed exploration. To listen to them in succession, as they’re meant to be heard, is to enter a vast, sophisticated, and deeply considered sound-world. Song Unconditional is also gorgeous, sometimes startlingly. It belongs, I think, in the company of the most impressive solo piano albums of recent years, notably Craig Taborn’s Avenging Angel and David Virelles’ Nuna."

Alexander Hawkins: Piano

All compositions by Alexander Hawkins. Recorded on October 7 and 8, 2024, at Artesuono Recording Studios, Cavalicco, Italy, by Stefano Amerio. Mixed and mastered in February 2025 at Artesuono Recording Studios, Cavalicco, Italy, by Stefano Amerio. Cover art contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2019), processed by ESA. Graphic design: Jonas Schoder. Liner notes: Adam Shatz. Photo: Edu Hawkins. Produced by Alexander Hawkins and Intakt Records. Published by Intakt Records. Executive Producer: Florian Keller. Intakt Records, P.O. Box, 8024 Zürich, Switzerland. www.intaktrec.ch