Feature photo by Allison Wildrick
Story by Josie James
For his new release “At Long Last … At the Piano,” Carter Elliott followed his instincts to create something entirely new in one take — and in his pajamas.
This is the first volume of Elliott’s original solo piano improvisations and compositions. “At Long Last … At the Piano” invites listeners further into Elliott’s musical journey. The album shifts attention away from his songwriting and toward his keen ear for musicality and composition. If listeners didn’t know about his jazz piano background before, they may be in for a surprise.
Elliott, a 21-year-old commercial songwriting major at MTSU, hails from Pearl, Mississippi, and has been immersed in the world of jazz since he was around nine years old. Growing up, he fell in love with the compositions of Thelonious Monk, Herbie Hancock and Ahmad Jamal, and was inspired by the way jazz influenced the progressive rock and singer-songwriter side of music.
“One of my favorite artists, James Taylor, has a history of hiring jazz or contemporary jazz session musicians,” Elliott said.
Elliott started his college career at the University of North Texas in 2022. He studied jazz piano performance in his freshman and sophomore years.
“In the dorms, there were practice rooms with pianos,” Elliott said. “I was going through some especially difficult times at UNT, and so just to kind of escape for a little bit I would go downstairs into the practice rooms and just play my little heart out.”
Elliott recorded these improvisation sessions on his phone. He later recovered the voice memos, which inspired him to record an improvisational album featuring a few compositions from the recordings. In previous recording sessions, Elliott ironed out and precisely planned each part within a song.
“On this album, there are very few moments when I come with something pre-prepared,” Elliott said. “Out of 28 tracks, maybe three or four of them came from a previous time, a voice memo.”
The album was recorded and edited by graduate production student Allison Wildrick. Elliott performed in MTSU’s Studio B within the Bragg building. He wore his pajamas, just as he had in the UNT practice rooms, and played about 105 minutes of improvised piano music on the studio’s Yamaha grand piano. 45 minutes of the session made it onto the album.
The singles Elliott released prior to this album drifted between singer-songwriter fare and progressive rock. The genre switch-up may be surprising, but Elliott’s musicality remains steadfast.
“I think jazz helped me loosen up with my improvisation, while progressive rock and singer-songwriter stuff really bolstered my compositional value,” Elliott said. “I really don’t feel like I identify with any one genre.”
Each song title in the album offers another piece of imagery for the listener.
“‘Winter’s Afternoon’ and ‘Fireplace / Winter’s Afternoon (Reprise)’ were titled beforehand and based off of images I wanted to evoke through the pieces. The rest were titled after the session,” Elliott said.
“The Search Continues” and “Last Month” are nods towards Elliott’s time in Texas. “Randall’s Office” is a reference to Randy Newman, one of Elliott’s favorite composers, “who has a distinct shuffle in many of his compositions.”
Elliott’s time at MTSU comes to a bittersweet close next month when graduation rolls around. He will perform at Hop Springs on Dec. 12 at a concert that’s also his graduation party.
“At Long Last … At the Piano (Improvisations and Compositions, Vol. 1)” by Carter Elliott is available to stream on all platforms.
Josie James is a contributing writer for MTSU Sidelines.
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