Arcoiris Sandoval
Piano Solo on
How Deep Is the Ocean?

About

Arcoiris Sandoval's piano solo is the first of two solos on this rendition of Irving Berlin's "How Deep Is the Ocean?" from her 2018 album First Voyage. Sandoval takes five choruses over the 32-bar ABAC form in E-flat at a brisk 196 BPM with a swing feel, the most extended solo on the album. Berlin's 1932 standard, built around rhetorical questions expressing the immensity of love, provides a rich harmonic vehicle for Sandoval's extended exploration. Five choruses at this tempo represents a sustained creative effort, allowing her to develop ideas across a broad arc from lyrical opening statements to more intense, rhythmically complex passages.

Arcoiris Sandoval was 30 to 31 years old at the time.