It doesn't require specialist knowledge to recognize the affinity of the piano with electronic music. In fact, you should be a little ashamed if you've never fully acknowledged how much modern day electronic music owes to its archaic ancestor. Even in the digital age of today the influence of the keyboard and the synthesizer on dance music production shouldn't be underestimated, but then the organic, unsythesized qualities of the grand piano's notes remain precious components in so many tracks. It should come as no surprise then that Francesco Tristano, a thirty-year old from Barcelona, raised in Luxembourg, is lighting up the world of electronic music by compounding it with his own gifted ability as a pianist.

Tristano's career as a composer, presenter and conductor of classical music began at a series of prestigious schools of music over Europe where he was taught by leading classical composers. Despite his deep roots in classical music, his interest in contemporary music has always been a powerful influence on him, and only recently has this interest morphed into ground-breaking involvement. Last year Ibiza's gargantuan superclub, Space was where Tristano first joined forces with Carl Craig in a landmark performance that proved even in the 21st century, something so old, so historic is wonderfully compatible with today's machinery. Maybe that's not that surprising when you consider the piano's ancestral relationship with electronic music, but only now, thanks to Tristano are we really hearing what a genuine fusion of these two conceptually different musical worlds from completely different generations actually sounds like. From the evidence, such as the video featured above, I can say with some conviction the fusion is not only very successful, but possibly the most exciting fusion I've ever witnessed emerge.

Although his staggering three-piece ensembles have only recently gained attention, Tristano's contribution to electronic music goes much further. He has collaborated with artists such as Agoria and Apparat as well as Craig since 2005, and has released three solo albums, one of which, Not For Piano (2007), was produced by Murcof. His most recent album, Idiosynkrasia which was released last year, has recently gone under remixing duty by techno heavyweights Ark, Ben Klock and Tom Taylor together with Paul Woolford. Add to this a live debut at fabric on May 14th in Room Two and 2011 could well be the year that marks the initiation of Francesco Tristano into the demanding world of genuine underground music.

Francesco Tristano - Idiosynkrasia (Ark Remix)


Francesco Tristano - Idiosynkrasia (Ben Klock Remix)


Francesco Tristano - Idiosynkrasia (Tom Taylor & Paul Woolford Remix)


Upcoming events with Franceso Tristano:
fabric with Zip, Craig Richards, Agoria, Francesco Tristano (live), Jozif... May 14th 11pm-8am, London