My grandfather didn’t like me playing his grand piano. He said that thanks to me, his ears were falling off. In church, people remarked I played too quickly, too rhythmically or just with too much ‘jazz’ – perhaps it is thanks to them that I learned to play much softer and began writing such quiet music. As I sit at the piano, my fingers producing barely a whisper, I still imagine them behind me, chiming in.

Feel free to stay a while – hope I won’t make your ears fall off.