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"Billy Joel's First Love: Classical 'Fantasies'"
By: Edna Gundersen
(August 3rd, 2001)

When pop star Billy Joel expressed interest in composing classical music, voices from both camps called him delusional.

Joel's response to skeptics arrives October 2nd, 2001 on "Fantasies & Delusions," a collection of his solo piano compositions recorded at Mozart Hall in the Vienna Concert House. Joel isn't the piano man. That job fell to British-Korean pianist R. Hyung-Ki Joo, aka Richard Joo, former grand-prize winner at the Stravinsky International Piano Competition who world-premiered Joel's works at New York's Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center.

Whereas Paul McCartney "dove into the deep end of the pool with an oratorio and a symphony, I'm just putting a toe in," Joel says. "I want to introduce it as humbly and gingerly as I can, because I know classical critics are waiting with a knife and fork."

He suspects reviewers will object to his stylistic embrace of romantic 19th century piano music (one piece even revives 18th century baroque) over more modern dissonant and atonal trends.

"All melodic songwriting harkens to Schubert," Joel says. "That kind of music was my first crush, before rock and roll dragged me away for 30 years."

Joel is considering expanding to compositions for piano with cello, violin or clarinet, and later tackling chamber and orchestral projects. The author of "Uptown Girl" and "Just the Way You Are" hasn't abandoned pop songs entirely.

"I'm not closing any doors," he says. "Right now, classical music captures my imagination. This is where the muse is leading."


"Christie's Nuclear Reaction"
By: Neal Travis
(August 19th, 2001)

She was Billy Joel's "Uptown Girl," but former supermodel Christie Brinkley, at 47, says she's finally found contentment living the country life in the Hamptons. And if it wasn't for "being in the cross hairs of nuclear reactors," she'd be truly happy.

Christie is on the cover of the September issue of More and tells the magazine she's working her butt off for the STAR (Standing for Truth Against Radiation) Foundation. (She and former husband Joel are together for this cause, which wants to shut down nuke plants across Long Island Sound in Connecticut.)

"Like any other mother, I want to protect my kids," she says. "If people see me on TV saying 'rhabdomyosarcoma,' I don't care if they think, 'Wow, that's a lot of syllables for a supermodel.' All that matters is that they stop the clicker for a moment and pay attention."

On a lighter note, Brinkley recalls that when she started modeling, they wanted her tanned to the limit. "My mom's idea of sun protection was a dab of zinc oxide on the tip of my nose," she says. "So I used to have visions of this really young nose with this weathered face all around it!"

Brinkley says she never changed her lifestyle just so her skin could look good longer. But she wants to help other sun worshippers and is in the final stages of developing her own anti-aging skin and hair-care lines. "My bathroom looks like a laboratory right now," she claims.


"The 'Piano Man' is a Funny Man at Benefit"
The "Piano Man" gives a master class in humor and music in a benefit for the STAR Foundation.
By: Steve Matteo
(August 20, 2001)

For the second year, Mr. Big Shot got big laughs at the STAR Foundation benefit.

Billy Joel treated those in attendance Saturday night at Southampton High School to more than two hours of his self-deprecating wit and pop hits from the past, and even unveiled some of his upcoming classical music creations. At an event put together to benefit such a serious cause - the STAR Foundation is an environmental group that raises awareness of the hazards of radiation - Joel's participation provided a welcome dose of humor.

After Christie Brinkley, Joel's ex-wife and co-chair of the event, and others explained the problems inherent in using nuclear energy and gave an award to former Energy Secretary Bill Richardson, New York gubernatorial candidate Andrew Cuomo introduced Billy Joel.

If Joel had not performed any songs, the show still would have been entertaining. His rolling monologue, incorporating answers to questions and sometimes stream-of-consciousness reminiscences, came across like a hilarious performance that George Carlin might have delivered on the old "Ed Sullivan Show." There was also some of the angst of a good Richard Lewis bit and even some Woody Allen touches.

At times brutally honest about his life and the vagaries of being a rock star, Joel was, in the end, quite funny because of his unpretentious delivery and the obviously spontaneous nature of his joking. He was completely animated, dancing, poking fun at himself and often skillfully playing the part of stand-up comedian.

The whole evening, for which some paid $300 per ticket, had the feel of one those classic nights of TV when Johnny Carson was hosting "The Tonight Show" and everything was clicking. As funny as Joel was, those who came were clearly interested in asking questions and, of course, hearing him perform. Celebrities in the audience included Michael J. Fox, model Heidi Klum and monologuist Spalding Gray, as Joel talked about how, for the past eight years he has been writing songs for piano, with no vocals, that will make up his first album since 1993's "River of Dreams."

The new record, the classical "Fantasies and Delusions," will be released in October. Joel reminisced about hearing instrumental music on the radio and played Vince Guaraldi's "Cast Your Fate to the Wind" and pieces of the Safaris' surf classic, "Wipeout," as two examples.

After playing an abbreviated "Just the Way You Are," Joel revealed that originally the song was not going to be released, but then Linda Ronstadt and Phoebe Snow heard it in the studio, and urged him to release it.

Classical pianist Richard Joo, assisting Joel, performed some selections from Joel's upcoming recording. The music has a romantic, impressionistic feel and would not sound out of place in a Francois Truffaut film. When asked about which of his own songs he never tires of playing, Joel performed "Summer, Highland Falls," which he described as an "ode to manic-depression," and which was greatly influenced by the music of Jackson Browne. He then did a rollicking version of "Take It Easy," the Eagles hit that Browne co-wrote. Showing other influences, he performed the Beatles' "Michelle" and Floyd Cramer's "Behind Closed Doors."

He closed at exactly 9 o'clock on a Saturday with his signature "Piano Man." Throughout, Joel's performance displayed wide-ranging vocal ability and dexterous keyboard work.

It seems Joel spends more of his time helping local causes than promoting his career - a career that could easily include success as a funny man as well as a "Piano Man."


"What's Hot In The Hamptons?"
By: Jill Martin
(August 20, 2001)

The STAR foundation, (Standing for Truth about Radiation) held their second annual event this past Saturday and it was a STAR-studded night to say the least. Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley back together again? Well at least for the night, as they both came out to support the "Summer Star Series" and showed that harmony exists both on and off the stage.

At Southampton High School, Hamptonites got to hear a little music and participate in a question and answer session with Billy Joel. Other celebrities who showed up were Jerry Seinfeld and wife, Jessica Sklar, supermodel Heidi Klum, Alec Baldwin, Kristin Davis, and Michael J. Fox.


"Veteran Songwriter Goes Back To School for STAR"
By: Abigail Tucker
(August 23rd, 2001)

When classes resume in a couple of weeks, Southampton High School musicians will have a tough act to follow. On Saturday night, legendary Long Island singer/songwriter Billy Joel took the school's stage for more than two hours, performing songs, telling stories and answering questions.

The second annual "Master Class" featuring Billy Joel, Saturday's event was part of the 2001 summer series to benefit Standing for Truth About Radiation (STAR), the grassroots watchdog organization that advocates for the health of the environment.

Mr. Joel performed songs old and new, surprising the audience with selections from his new classical CD, most of which were played by another pianist. Mr. Joel felt that it was important that his fans hear these new pieces, "so you know that I haven't been picking nose for the past eight years," he said with a smile.

More seriously, Mr. Joel prefaced the show by stating that he feels "stifled" by lyric writing and is happy to compose songs without accompanying words. "I'm very happy to work in a more abstract, less literal milieu," he explained.

New artistic interests did not prevent the musician from belting some of his most famous lyrics, from songs like "She's Got a Way," "Just The Way You Are" and "Piano Man."

The evening was peppered with anecdotes as Mr. Joel spoke about his music career and family life, often to hilarious effect. "I didn't even know I was Jewish until the locker room," Mr. Joel said, describing his childhood in Queens.

STAR volunteers passed wireless microphones through the crowd to facilitate audience participation.

While onstage, Mr. Joel occasionally chatted with his ex-wife Christie Brinkley, the event's co-chair, who was seated in the audience with her husband, Peter Cook, the other chairperson of the event. Mr. Joel and Ms. Brinkley's daughter was in attendance, as were a host of celebrities, including Michael J. Fox, Alec Baldwin, and Heidi Klumm, to name a few.

But, during the question and answer session, "ordinary" Billy Joel fans held their own. Several audience members were invited to the stage, and Mr. Joel sang a duet with a 13 year-old boy with a neurological disorder, garnering a standing ovation.

One audience member, who was wearing a "River of Dreams" tie, wanted to know if Mr. Joel would ever produce a CD of songs he has recorded but never released. Mr. Joel asked the man how he had heard the material he was referring to, but the fan sidestepped the question.

Before relinquishing the microphone, the fan coolly declared that some of Mr. Joel's unreleased songs "really aren't that great."

Frequent and often touching speeches by STAR members somewhat tempered the evening's hilarity. But Mr. Joel gracefully acknowledged the seriousness of the event, accepting an award for service to the STAR Foundation, albeit in a falsetto voice.

After the concert, which ran an hour late, the uptown girls and big shots in the audience hustled off to a $2,500 a plate STAR benefit dinner at a private Southampton residence. The rest of the crowd, still humming, scattered into the night.


"Sony Classical/Columbia Records Releases Billy Joel Opus 1-10 'Fantasies & Delusions' (Music for Solo Piano)"
Eagerly-Anticipated Album of Instrumental Music Is Billy Joel's First Album of New Compositions Since 1993's "River of Dreams"; In Stores October 2nd, 2001
(August 29th, 2001)

"The last song on that album ("River of Dreams") is called "Famous Last Words," and it says, 'These are the last words I have to say,'" Billy Joel recalls. "And that was the last time I wrote a piece of music that had lyrics. Right after that, I began to write instrumental music, without words. That was eight years ago. I was learning a new vernacular. I have always written the music first, when I wrote songs. But now, it was a matter of how I could make the music speak, instead of having to translate it into lyrics."

"Fantasies & Delusions" is the next chapter in Billy Joel's life-long love affair with the piano. Before the world-renowned "Piano Man" ever discovered rock and roll, he grew up studying classical piano, already feeling the influences of Beethoven, Bach, Chopin, Schubert, Schumann, and many others. "But, by the time I was 15, I didn't want to be a concert pianist and I didn't want to have to play other people's music, so I left classical music - 'the girl next door' and ran away with rock and roll - 'the woman with the torn fishnet stockings and high heels.' She swept me away and, for 30 years, we had this wild love affair. Now things have cooled down a little bit and although I'll always have strong feelings for her, I'm back in love with the girl next door."

Drawing on a diverse range of classical influences, Billy Joel composed the ten solo piano pieces that comprise "Fantasies & Delusions." "Essentially, they are written in the style of the romantic era - except for the 'Invention in C Minor' which is more of an 18th century piece - I would say from the middle 19th century to early 20th century, bridging the time from Schumann up to Debussy. On this recording, there are ten pieces, but one of them is a suite, which has three pieces inside it, so there are actually 13 separate pieces of music."

When it came time for Billy Joel to record his new compositions, he enlisted Richard Joo, a classical pianist and winner of the Stravinsky Prize for piano, based on a recommendation from his brother, Alex Joel, a rising young conductor in Vienna. "I am not as good a pianist as people think I am,'' Joel modestly confesses. "For rock and roll, I am OK, but for this kind of music, I wanted a true virtuoso, someone who knows how to express all the nuances, who intuitively understands all the dynamics, and who can deliver a bravura performance on the instrument. And so, someone like Richard Joo is perfect."

Billy Joel's passion for, and understanding of, classical music came as a revelation to piano virtuoso Richard Joo. "I think he puts many classical musicians to shame, actually, because there are very few people in the profession that share his passion," says Joo. "I would say it's a very beautiful marriage between the 21st century composer and the greats of the 19th century. I have been lucky that I was chosen to play his music. It's been really great to work with him."

"Fantasies & Delusions" was recorded at the Vienna Koncerthaus at the Mozartsaal, Vienna, Austria, in June, 2001 on a specially selected Steinway Model D grand piano. "There were a lot of reasons to record in Vienna," Joel explains. "I have a brother who is a conductor in Vienna and my father lives there. The nature of most of the music on this album is 19th century romantic in style, and Vienna was the creative Mecca for music during this era, just as it was during the heyday of Mozart, Haydn, and Beethoven. This city venerates composers and musicians and there is also an exciting, young vital music community there. It just felt like the right place to come to pay respects to the place where much of this style of music originated. There is also another element. I don't know if the word is 'ghosts' or 'spirits' but there is something in the atmosphere itself, the way the place feels, that connects you to this kind of music."

For Billy Joel, "Fantasies & Delusions" is the next step in his ongoing musical evolution. "My own music is being recorded by someone else but I don't think the time would come where I would never make music," Joel admits. "You see, I might not be singing right now. I am not writing 'songs' and I am not personally recording my music but I am composing and that is the essence of what I have always done and will always do. The playwright doesn't have to act to have his characters come to life. Good actors can do that. Likewise, the composer doesn't have to perform his music to have it heard. Good musicians can do that. This is an idea that has always intrigued me. Hopefully, this recording reflects that."
___________________________________________
Billy Joel
Opus 1-10
"Fantasies & Delusions"
(Music for Solo Piano)

Richard Joo, Pianist

 1. Opus 3. Reverie (Villa D'Este) [9:28]
 2. Opus 2. Waltz No. 1 (Nunley's Carousel) [6:52]
 3. Opus 7. Aria (Grand Canal) [11:04]
 4. Opus 6. Invention in C Minor [0:59]
 5. Opus 1. Soliloquy (On A Separation) [11:17]
 6. Opus 8. Suite For Piano (Star-Crossed)
     I. Innamorato [7:44]
 7. II. Sorbetto [1:28]
 8. III. Delusion [3:32]
 9. Opus 5. Waltz No. 2 (Steinway Hall) [6:56]
10. Opus 9. Waltz No. 3 (For Lola) [3:25]
11. Opus 4. Fantasy (Film Noir) [8:45]
12. Opus 10. Air (Dublinesque) [3:45]

All music composed by William Joel, Impulsive Music, ASCAP

Recorded at Vienna Koncerthaus at the Mozartsaal, Vienna Austria - June, 2001
___________________________________________


"Billy Joel Speechless On New LP"
["Piano Man" releasing his first record in eight years - a collection of classical piano pieces - October 2nd, 2001]
By: Corey Moss
(August 29th, 2001)

When Billy Joel sang "These are the last words I have to say" on the final song of 1993's "River of Dreams," he meant it.

The "Piano Man" is releasing his first record in eight years on October 2nd, 2001 - but it doesn't include any words.

Opus 1-10 "Fantasies & Delusions" (Music for Solo Piano) is a classical music album featuring new material written by Joel and performed by piano virtuoso Richard Joo.

Joel described the music in a Columbia Records press release as being influenced by the Romantic era and composers like Schumann and Debussy, with the exception of one 18th century-flavored piece, "Invention in C Minor."

"Fantasies & Delusions" features 10 solo piano pieces, including a suite in three parts. It was recorded in June at the Vienna Koncerthaus at the Mozartsaal in Vienna, Austria.

Joel, who has sold 100 million albums worldwide, according to Columbia, grew up studying classical piano before he gave it up to become a rock and roller. His hits included "Just the Way You Are" and "It's Still Rock and Roll to Me."

Although some consider Joel a modern-day Jerry Lee Lewis on the piano, Joel said in the press release he is not as talented as people think. "The playwright doesn't have to act to have his characters come to life," he explained. "Good actors can do that. Likewise, the composer doesn't have to perform his music to have it heard."