Brazilian American Composer Miguel Kertsman Unveils His New Progressive Rock Record!
Brazilian American Composer Miguel Kertsman has announced his latest album, the progressive rock odyssey, “Paradoxes”, a concept album due for release on October 3rd,2025! Kertsman, who Rolling Stone has called his work as “indescribable and defies categorisation”, has graced stages and screens for decades, with his work used everywhere from video games to the Olympics. He has collaborated with everyone from opera singer Angelika Kirchschlager to guitarist John Williams to Head Automatica collaborator Dan the Automator.
“Composer and musician Miguel Kertsman lets us hear music rooted in European classical traditions and Brazilian folklore. Overall, this music remains indescribable and defies categorisation.” – Rolling Stone
It’s a fascinating disc, it’s a real melting pot of repertoire. Kertsman’s style is very, very varied. He plunges everything into his music, from jazz to world music influences. It’s sometimes atonal, but it’s never inaccessible.” – BBC Music Magazine, Jeremy Pound, Deputy Editor
“…virtuosic eccentricity…Kertsman’s top-tier compositional skills…always seeking new vantage points, but he also has a keen understanding of the classic prog canon” - JMN, PROG Magazine
“Miguel gives you Prog Rock for the new age and his creativity on the album is off the charts. Come one, come all and enter the realm of Paradoxes” - Jimmy Rae, Skope Magazine
| Paradoxes - New Progressive Rock Recording |
As a multi-hyphenate, Kertsman has composed, produced, engineered, arranged, conducted and played keyboards across a diversity of genres such as contemporary classical, jazz, rock, and world music, but “Paradoxes” is a special affair, a personal foray into the progressive rock styles which inspired him in his youth. “I have always been fascinated by paradoxes - whether as curiosities found in science, astrophysics or math, or in everyday human behaviour,” says Kertsman, “Growing up, I was surrounded by classical music and Jazz, and the incredibly rich musical life of Brazil. Moving to New York later introduced me to even more musical languages. But as a child, it was the Progressive Rock bands of the time that truly captivated me.”
An album of synthesiser-driven prog rock familiar to fans of Yes, Patrick Moraz, and Pink Floyd might seem like an unintuitive move for a composer whose work has been recorded by the London Philharmonic Orchestra, but Kertsman doesn’t necessarily see it that way. “The music of progressive rock paralleled the classical music I knew: it embraced longer forms, told stories across multiple movements and songs, balanced instrumental passages with lyrics, and fearlessly pushed boundaries.”
“Paradoxes” is a concept album whose parts are all played live-in-the-space on original vintage instruments, along with drums, bass, guitars, and vocals, captured through only a few microphones. Fans of vintage synths will be delighted to hear the classic, warm tones of Minimoogs, Mellotrons, and Prophet 10s performed with a creativity reminiscent of Rick Wakeman and Richard Wright.
“Red Blue Sky” (featuring the evocative vocals of Drew Sarich) and “i-Clock” include gentle satire of political polarisation in the context of an attitude of empathy, an attitude which extends to “Liquid Fire,” an ode of anxiety and contemplation on Spaceship Earth. “Interestingly, and not by design, the album’s story also revolves around humankind, and our home, the Earth - as described in “Atemporal Ocean” (accompanying vocals: Saiphe) “These are also the themes underlining my very first album ‘Música, Mito, e Mistério’ back in ’82, which was also a ‘classical prog rock’ record in Brazil,” reflects Kertsman. Kertsman’s “Paradoxes” are worth taking time to disentangle this fall, for those who like their synthesisers warm, their playing virtuosic, and their rock prog.
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Album: Miguel Kertsman - Paradoxes
Tracklist:
1. Enclosed Pathways
2. Postlude, Letting Go
3. Still Currents
4. Red Blue Sky
5. Jubilant Anxiety
6. Fanfare In Quietude
7. Liquid Fire
8. Atemporal Ocean
9. Postlude, Waterverse
10. Then Is Now
11. Postlude, Nostalgic Future
12. i-Clock
13. Postlude, De-clocking
A progressive art rock album, recorded live-in-the-space using vintage analog gear, whose songs, expansive instrumentals, and interludes, take the listener on an emotionally charged journey - exploring the contradictions and magnificence of the human experience. A deluxe double vinyl album edition + bonus CD, and streaming everywhere.
Music by Classical Music Composer & Jazz-Rock Keyboardist Miguel Kertsman
New album "PARADOXES" out on October 3! Deluxe double LP vinyl + Bonus CD, and digital everywhere.
Miguel Kertsman’s works have been performed or recorded by world class artists including guitarist John Williams, singer Angelika Kirchschlager, The London Philharmonic Orchestra, The Vienna Symphony Chamber Orchestra, Conductor Dennis Russell Davies, flutist Marina Piccinini to name a few.
