Thank you for this project and for putting the spotlight on this pianist. I listened to 'the new me' and it is very interesting how she did that and yet somehow there is a bit of Bach shining through here and there.
Yes. Her life story is really heartbreaking, wanting to become a classical pianist but being told that being black and playing classical music at the same time just wouldn't do. I'm of two minds on this - as I've written before on HN -, sad as it is that she did not follow her chosen path in the end it gave us her own material which to me is just as dear of not dearer. My all time favorite song is 'wild is the wind'.
Indeed! Especially in Blues Variations, which is - like the Golderg Variations - a theme-and-variation form. But like the WTC and AoF, it ends in a 4 voice fugue. All on a blues theme =)
Amazing music. Been listening to it on repeat for a while now... After you posted the link I went and googled her, found her own compositions and I absolutely love them.
If you have time: please research Friedrich Gulda and if Kimiko isn't aware of him yet please introduce her to his music, he went through a similar path, originally classically trained eventually went for his own style. Here is a sample: