Even when he was alive, the wildest stories were about The Vault, the vault where Prince kept his music. According to musicians Prince worked with, there were many hours of recorded material in the safe. This CD is the first work to be released after Prince's death and thus the first (public) revelation of material from the safe. On all songs Prince sits solo at the piano. Prince's talent is undeniable
… in this bare set-up as well. Although he mainly presented himself as a guitarist, singer and songwriter, he also turns out to be a great pianist. Hear how funky he can make a piano sound in 17 Days. The singer in Prince excels in the ecstatic gospel Mary Don't You Weep and in International Lover we even hear him beatboxing. Yet they are often no more than sketches. A first setup of Purple Rain only takes a minute and a half. There is a good chance that the perfectionist Prince would never have released this music during his lifetime, but nevertheless Piano & A Microphone 1983 gives a fascinating insight into the working method of the mysterious musician. (PdK)more