In case you didn’t already know, Sunday March 29 is Piano Day.

Earier this month, Erased Tapes pianist Nils Frahm decided that from this year onwards, March 29 would be “Piano Day”. Now it appears there was a little more to his idea, as he’s chosen the day to release a new album for free download, titled -solo-. The album will also be released on vinyl and CD formats through Erased Tapes.

“At the end of 2014 I had an immediate urge to release a solo piano album which I recorded some time ago,” Frahm explains at the Piano Day website, “and I was looking for a specific occasion to do so. I wanted it to be a nice surprise for everyone, so I thought of a meaningful release date to begin with.”

As well as releasing the album for free, Frahm is using the occasion to try and help piano builder David Klavins turn a unique piano design into reality. Klavins is already noted for building some unusual pianos, but the Klavins M450 will stand at 4.5m tall, and Frahm is hoping to raise €120,000 to help Klavins fund the piano, with the aim of making it “accessible to as many ears and hands as possible.”

Donations go towards covering materials and labour only, and Frahm has also pledged to donate all income generated from –solo– (which was recorded on a prototype version of the piano) until the total is raised. Building the Klavins M450 is expected to take about two years, and Frahm hopes to be able to organise a festival around the invention on Piano Day 2017 in Berlin.

To download -solo- and find out how to donate, head to the official Piano Day website. If you want some more piano, check Sven Weisemann’s soulful session on the keys for FACT TV below, originally recorded in 2013.