Review: Ann Sweeten - Just This Side Of Spring

Ann Sweeten - Just This Side Of Spring
2010, Orange Band Records

Ann Sweeten is perhaps one of the most decorated pianists of the past decade, winning six NAR Lifestyle Music Awards, one JPF Music Award and receiving ASCAP Popular Awards for eight years running. With significant airplay on both digital and internet radio, Sweeten's compositions have been enjoyed by millions of listeners, and she's good enough to draw Windham Hill founder Will Ackerman as a producer. Her latest album, Just This Side Of Spring, follows in the musical niche that Sweeten has cut for herself over her previous seven albums.

Sweeten opens with December Snow, an atypical offering for a New-Age piano recording. There are serious classical undertones wrapped up in a complex piano part and a melody that feels almost self-determined. Sweeten's play is temperamental but disciplined, full of a fire that surprises. Just This Side Of Spring is meandering and lovely, incorporating subtle shading as provided by acoustic guitar. Sweeten moves through the soft, sweeping melody of Light From A Narrow Window to the cinematic expression of A Light Rain, where theme and mood trump all other concepts. A Moment In Time is a gentle bit of remembrance in song that cascades over the ridges of memory and melody; a very pretty piece. Nikki's Song is quietly dramatic with a melancholy air, with the violin and piano playing off one another in almost magical fashion. Sweeten returns to her cinematic airs for In Gardens Fast Asleep and Hearts Left Behind before closing out with The Melt Warmers. The Melt Warmers begs for an orchestral arrangement, and features the same Cinematic feel that weaves its way in and out of the album throughout.

Ann Sweeten is more than your typical dinner pianist, writing themes that challenge both herself and her listeners to hear more and be more. Just This Side Of Spring works so well because Sweeten never gets complacent, shifting gears and perspective before there's ever a chance to get too comfortable. Just This Side Of Spring is a strong effort and highly recommended.

Rating: 3.5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Ann Sweeten at http://www.annsweeten.com/. You can purchase Just This Side Of Spring as either a CD or Download from Amazon.com.

Review: Eric Schrotenboer - Prayers

Eric Schrotenboer - Prayers
2009, Eric Schrotenboer

Eric Schrotenboer released his first solo piano album while still in high school. Over time he has turned his passion into a successful music production business, put out five albums, scored music for movies, television and ministries around the world, won multiple awards and served as a worship leader in his church. Schrotenboer's music has appeared in movies produced by Focus On The Family, AIG's The Creation Museum and WGN. This past year, Schrotenboer released his sixth album, Prayers, a series of instrumental piano ruminations on his beliefs and the world around him.

Prayers opens with Just As I Am, a plodding composition with an almost cinematic air; full of trepidation throughout until an almost too easy resolution in the closing bars. The incidental music feel and dizzyingly too easy ending are almost cliché. Have Thine Own Way is pretty, but sounds like it might have come from a Van Cliburn album. Considering the subject matter, the song sounds distinctly uninspired. Concert Of Prayer has a Windham Hill/Michael Hedges feel. Schrotenboer used the piano as both a melodic and percussive instrument here for the first time on the album, doling out a reserved but highly energetic sound. The melodic flow of the song still leans heavily toward the bland here, but it's clear Schrotenboer's finally trying to stretch the boundaries a bit.

Fairest Lord Jesus turns back in the other direction; a song of adoration that sounds more funereal than anything else and Schrotenboer reprises the plodding feel that accompanied the opening track to no good effect. My Jesus I Love Thee has some real potential. You could almost hear a CCM or Pop band taking off on this arrangement, as there's a Pop melody in here pushing at the seems to break free. Schrotenboer hits the heights on the penultimate Great God We Sing, finding a theme that sticks out on its own. Great God We Sing plays like a major score element, with a powerful melody and real direction/movement in the composition. Prayers closes out with Doxology, a variations piece that plays with the "Old 100th" melody commonly used in "The Doxology" sung in the Anglican Church. Schrotenboer rambles at times, and may also incorporate another theme I can't place, but it's a fair listen with some real creative flair.

Eric Schrotenboer makes some definite points on Prayers, but more often than not gets caught up in uninspiring moments. I enjoy good piano music, and I found this album to be generally innocuous, tending at times toward difficult to listen to. While I have no doubt that Schrotenboer is inspired in his writing, it doesn't translate well for the listener for much of the album. Schrotenboer's playing is technically proficient; just not inspired.

Rating: 2 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Eric Schrotenboer at http://www.ericschrotenboer.com/. You can purchase Prayers on CD from Bandfarm.com, or you can download the album from iTunes.

Review: David Wahler – Antiquus

David Wahler – Antiquus
2009, Darius Productions

David Wahler discovered at the age of seven that he could play piano. With no lessons and no experience at the keyboard, Wahler found that he could recreate songs from church or the radio on the piano as easy as inhaling and exhaling. Years of training and performance helped Wahler polish his craft until he found himself serving as a composer and music director for Off-Broadway productions in New York City. Returning to his home base of Chicago, Wahler continued to perform with the Rockford Symphony Orchestra and New American Theater. Wahler took a couple of professional turns, both successful, but never found the satisfaction he found in music. Wahler treats his talent as a gift and aims to share his love of music with the world around him. Wahler's debut CD, Antiquus, has roots and influences in music by Gabriel Faure, Eric Satie, Scarlatti, Stravinsky, Chopin and Rimsky-Korsakov as well as modern works by Brian Eno, Peter Gabriel, Kitaro and Liz Story.

Antiquus opens with the title track, an ethereal, dreamlike composition in the same vein as some of John Tesh's more popular work. A lovely piece where the theme is trade back and forth between piano and various synth sounds. Delphi takes an Eno-esque turn, delving into a vibrant, staccato electronic crown with deep currents running beneath. Kyoto Mist introduces a Japanese-influenced coat around a Windham Hill style theme. The sparse nature of this composition carries with it a singular beauty and a significant risk, as it sounds not dissimilar from the sort of music you might hear on nature CDs found in specialty stores in your local mall. From the mundane to the memorable, Wahler sinks into Apollo's Lyre with a melody for the ages; simple, noble; beautiful. Wahler reaches cinematic heights on Teresa. There's a feeling of time and place to this track that belies the simple musical narrative of the melody. The occasional voiceover aside (which frankly is more distracting than anything), this is a beautiful composition.

Hyacinthus draws on vague Native American musical sounds mixed into New Age piano and synth overlays and a virtual chorus of angels providing vocal support. The "violin" (synth) line here provides illumination, as if it were the sun itself set aloft into the sky and climbing ever higher. The melody here is gorgeous although it does get a bit too cyclical at times. Lune Mysterieuse has a fairly generic sound that is pleasant but won't stick in your mind for too long, whereas Angelis is dripping with a drama and tension that is theatrical. Over the course of six-and-a-half minutes, Angelis resolves tension with rambling, contemplative passages that work their way back and forth from tension to peace without ever resting. This ambivalence of place leads to the closing track, Ancient Dawn, which recedes ever so slowly into the distance and passes into the inaudible ether in its closing seconds.

David Wahler walks a fine line between commercial New Age and composing meaningful music that people will want to hear, not simply be lulled by. While there are definite lulling moments on Antiquus, the material offered here is a bit too good to simply be mood or background music. Some of the effect choices (particularly the one-word, ethereal voiceovers) waste some of the overall effect of the music, but on the whole Antiquus is top notch. I highly recommend you spend some time David Wahler if your interests run to New Age and/or Modern Classical music.

Rating: 3.5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about David Wahler at http://www.davidwahler.com/ or www.myspace.com/davidwahler. You can purchase Antiquus as either a CD or download through CDBaby.com.

Review: Kowtow Popof - Exalted Headband

Kowtow Popof - Exalted Headband
2009, Wampus Multimedia

Kowtow Popof is a Washington, DC area singer-songwriter who'd developed a distinctive taste for instrumentals that mix organic and electronic instrumentation. This form of Organica has developed a bit over time, finding fruition in Kowtow Popof's latest CD, Exalted Headband. Inspired by cinematic composers such as Bernard Herrmann and John Barry as well as electronic pioneers Ryuichi Sakamoto and Bill Nelson, Kowtow Popof wrote Exalted Headband with a cinematic scope in mind, using recurring thematic elements to construct an integrated series of compositions that work as a stand alone modern Organica symphony.

Exalted Headband is extremely intricate and nuanced in both composition and performance, opening with the Acoustic/Electric hybrid of Swimming Downhill, which sounds a bid like Windham Hill updated for the digital age. Enigma Of The Spokes continues in this vein, but has a more European sound, mixing acoustic guitar with electronically-generated strings for lovely soaring passages you'll want to play again and again before branching into piano/synth duets that are as pretty but perhaps not quite as imaginative. Kairos '77 is an intriguing composition, struggling with its own identity crisis between a theme of hope or despair. This is a piece I'd love to hear broken down for live instruments, and I think there is a lot of beauty in the depths that electronic instrumentation can seek but not quite find. Kung Fu Sunset sounds like what might have happened if Vince Guaraldi had fallen in love with space-age Electronica rather than Jazz.

Run To Daylight features one of three primary themes from Exalted Headband quite prominently. The Daylight Theme is nearly a stand-alone melody here, sounding like something out of 1970's Jazz-Pop set to a dance beat. Exalted Headband (Funkspiel Fringe) sounds like a theme to a 1970's detective show, right down to the Chicago-style horns. Theme From Lucky Guy sounds like the theme to a show you might find on ESPN in part A with a creepy transition or bridge. My favorite track on the CD is Balloon Bazooka; a surreal waltz that devolves into a computer-generated electronic composition that will invade your brain and stay there with a thematic element that intrigues. Rebreather is a fun listen, using a synth voice-generated melody as a foil to its thematic expression. Other highlights include Chronis, Children Of The Teeth and Floaters.

Kowtow Popof is an unusually placid voice in electronic music, searching for thematic order where chaos reigns supreme. His use of musical elements from across various cultures and schools of musical thought suggests significant classical/theory training, and opens doors for Popof that many musicians might not even know are there. Exalted Headband works on so many levels because of Kowtow Popof's willingness to try anything. Exalted Headband is hopefully a herald of things to come.

Rating: 4 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Kowtow Popof at http://www.wampus.com/ or www.myspace.com/kowtowpopof. You can purchase a copy of Exalted Headband as either a CD or download at www.cdbaby.com/cd/kowtow6.

Review: Lawrence Blatt - The Color Of Sunshine

Lawrence Blatt - The Color Of Sunshine
2009, LMB Music

Acoustic guitarist extraordinaire Lawrence Blatt returns with his latest CD, The Color Of Sunshine, the follow-up to last year's Fibonacci's Dream. Blatt teams up again with Producer and Windham Hill founder William Ackerman, whose other production credits include George Winston, Liz Story, Fiona Joy Hawkins, John Gorka and Patty Larkin. The Color Of Sunshine again finds Blatt exploring the lyric and finger-picking guitar styles that have already garnered him multiple awards and accolades in his short career.

The Color Of Sunshine is a collection of fourteen original compositions by Blatt that's very much in the same vein as Fibonacci’s Dream. With a mix of finger-pick and lyric guitar styles Blatt lays down with a distinctive brush under the guiding hand of William Ackerman. Fans of Ackerman and Michael Hedges will find a lot to like here. The highlights of the album come when Blatt's guitar hooks up with the violin. Blatt seems to respond very well to this pairing, finding a chemistry between the two instruments than can be most difficult to achieve. Jaune (Yellow) is a prime example. Blatt's guitar play is plaintive and subdued until the violin kicks in and brings the guitar to vibrant life. Likewise Mars Azul, which combines Spanish style guitar with violin for a chilling effect. InfraRed - The Abyss shows William Ackerman's influence all over it. Blatt even throws listeners a Country/Americana curve on Black Rock Beach. Other highlights include Gray Salt Marsh, White Light and The Color Of Sunshine.

Lawrence Blatt is among the best of a new generation of Classical/Easy Listening guitar plays. Barring some unforeseen circumstance he is likely to be making influential instrumental music for some time to come. The Color Of Sunshine is uplifting and well crafted; make sure you check it out!

Rating: 3 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Lawrence Blatt at http://www.lawrenceblatt.com/. You can purchase a copy of The Color Of Sunshine at www.cdbaby.com/cd/lawrenceblatt3, or download it through iTunes.

Review: Timothy Cooper - East Wind

Timothy Cooper - East Wind
2008, New Piano Age Music

While not as inspiring as Light On The Water, Timothy Cooper turns out a solid set of new age piano instrumentals on East Wind. Cooper's latest is a pleasant listen, providing the perfect musical setting for relaxation, good dinner conversation or meditation. Cooper is very adept with the piano at his fingertips, but the energy and urgency of some of his previous works just never quite materializes here. At 30 tracks, East Wind is more a series of musical vignettes than full constructed compositions. There are some interesting excerpts here, but I'd almost prefer to hear Cooper take the ten or twelve most promising pieces and take the time to flesh them out and give them full life.

Rating: 2.5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Timothy Cooper at http://www.new-age-piano.com/. You can purchase a copy of East Wind at www.cdbaby.com/cd/timothycooper.

Review: Oxcart - The Equation

Oxcart – The Equation
2008, Oxcartmusic

Oxcart comes blasting out of Portland, Oregon with their 2nd studio album, The Equation. Released in 2008, The Equation inherits its characteristic style from influences such as Nirvana, Queens Of The Stone Age, Pink Floyd and The Flaming Lips, with just a pinch of Spacehog thrown in. Recorded in the studio of Windham Hill violinist Billy Oskay, The Equation was recorded and produced almost entirely on vintage analog recording equipment, helping Oxcart capture a more organic sound than is possible on purely digital recordings.

Equation leads off the set; a rough and ready alternative guitar rocker with dark undertones. Office is a jazz/acid-rock fusion piece reminiscent of classic Pink Floyd. Gambler, Pt. 1 has a very heavy guitar rock sound, whereas Gambler, Pt. 2 has a sparse electronic sound that reminded me oh James Young/Jan Hammer’s Prisoner Of War. Explosions is a unique and disturbed composition that holds the interest. Genesis is a Floydian transition with some spoken word accoutrements. Teatherball is a punk rock anthem made for pogo dancing a pit jumping. What becomes clear, and quickly, is that Oxcart has an identity crisis.

Oxcart has so many directions musically that they seem to have a hard time developing any sort of coherent, consistent sound. It’s obvious that their influences and musical tastes are very divergent, but rather than trying to meld something new out of these sounds Oxcart tries to cover all the bases. In a single-based retail download environment this may be a way to maximize sales, and it may appeal to the band, but it’s not going to find wide commercial appeal. It’s obvious that there are some very talented musicians here, and the diversity of sound is great, but even Oxcart sounds like they occasionally get a little overwhelmed with all of the changes. Consequently The Equation is a musical Tautology. It is what it is, but the various parts never quite meld together to make something greater.

Rating: 2.5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Oxcart at http://www.oxcartmusic.net/ or www.myspace.com/oxcart. You can purchase a copy of The Equation at www.cdbaby.com/cd/oxcart2.

Review: Fiona Joy Hawkins - Blue Dream

Fiona Joy Hawkins – Blue Dream
2008, Little Hartley Music

Fiona Joy Hawkins turns heads every time she sits down at the piano and starts to play. The Australian composer/pianist mixes classical themes with jazz and world sounds and rhythms in a form of musical alchemy you have to hear to believe. Her latest recording, Blue Dream, is remarkable to listen to, and the supporting cast is indicative of the sort of respect Hawkins commands in the industry. Produced by William Ackerman (Founder of Windham Hill Records); Blue Dream features guest/supporting performances by Luka Bloom, T-Bone Wolk (Hall & Oates), Heather Rankin (The Rankin Family), Eugene Friesen (Paul Winter), Jeff Haynes (Pat Metheny) and Jeff Oster.

Blue Dream plays like a cross between ballet and musical theater. Lyric in composition and quiet in attitude, Blue Dream tells a musical story as if speaking in a dream. Hawkins is fearless in her musical exploration, giving no quarter to musical ideas but pulling them fully into the light of day and embedding them deep in the musical tapestry she weaves. Freedom opens Blue Dream like a sunrise inching over the horizon, illuminating the musical horizon in half-light and shadow. Feeling Sunshine is a vibrant picture of a world waking up. The dominant melody line of Feeling Sunshine kept calling to mind Lyrics from Wicked’s Defying Gravity. Fans of the show will get it.

From The Outside is one of my personal favorites on Blue Dream, with the piano sketching a sad yet hopeful figure standing just out of reach of his/her dreams. Blue Dream is a gorgeous composition buoyed by a lovely yet dark string arrangement. Samite’s Interlude is one of the more intriguing compositions here, focusing primarily on wooden flute, voice and percussion. This song has a disturbing, dream-like quality to it that really stands out. Song Phonique is another strong offering; a piano piece that builds in intensity and complexity until it spills over into a lovely mix of African rhythms, piano and voice. The song resolves back to piano before re-inventing itself as a modern, Eastern-European madrigal carried by violin and an angelic female vocal. Other highlights include Voice Of Angels, Prelude To A Painting and Somewhere.

Fiona Joy Hawkins gas gained the confidence and respect of the folks mentioned here for a reason. She’s that good, and she’s not afraid to take chances in her music. Blue Dream is an epic composition that will stand the test of time. Hawkins has previously been recognized with a Best Piano Album award by the NAR Lifestyle Music Awards (2006) and the best Classical/Jazz Album award from the MusicOz Awards (2008). Her prior releases have all spent time at #1 on the World New Age Radio Charts, but Blue Dream is the album that should cement her reputation internationally. Here you may witness a creative and performance genius hitting the top of her game.

Rating: 4.5 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Fiona Joy Hawkins at http://www.fionajayhawkins.com/. You can purchase a copy of Blue Dream at her site or at www.cdbaby.com/cd/fionajoyhawkins7. The album is also available for download on iTunes.

Review: Daryl Shawn - As Promised

Daryl Shawn - As Promised
2008, Tender Entropy

Daryl Shawn could be described as a musical chameleon. He is able to shift gears betweenRock, Jazz and Classical without a thought. Shawn never picked up a guitar until he was 16 years old, but appears to have been born to play it. After two years at Berklee studying Jazz, Classical and Flamenco guitar styles, Shawn uprooted himself from the San Francisco Bay area to Oxaca Mexico. Shawn continues to write songs and hone his craft there, but regularly returns to the US to share his music with audiences across the country. His latest release, As Promised, is full of beautiful instrumental guitar compositions that you're going to want to hear.

As Promised is a conglomeration or projects. Eleven tracks on the disc were composed as a wedding suite for a friend, while the others are unrelated compositions Shawn felt were strong enough to include here. Daryl Shawn has created a thing of beauty in the wedding suite (Tracks 1-10 and track 17), seeming to mimic the rise and fall of a relationship from inception to the culmination of the wedding day. Interstate is a rambling composition that seems to draw a musical parallel between the river of cars and the great rivers that carry water to the sea. The same sense of peaceful rolling and rocking is implied here in a very complex yet serene arrangement. Do Me A Favor is a strong composition with clear energy and a highly rhythmic structure and a memorable melody line dug deep into the chord progressions. It's not the most complex song on the album but probably one of the more enjoyable.

Oakland Azul allows Shawn to show off his finger-picking style in a minimalist and lovely arrangement that takes some interesting melodic turns. As Promised is a Suite composed of three movements. The first movement, Andante, has a baroque feel to it that you could easily imagine being played on harpsichord instead of guitar. Moderato has some of that baroque styling but also wants to break out in a James Taylor style folk/rock tune (but doesn't quite). Adagio is a love song played under moonlight, full of reverence and reverie. It is by far the most beautiful composition on the album. All In is a quiet expression of joy with an almost baroque sense to it. It could be a very cool processional that elevates slowly into a quiet yet exuberant joy.

Shawn changes gears on Danza Del Campo, breaking out a Latin flavor and high energy that demands that you get up and dance. Bride Of The Winter Plains reminds me somewhat of the early Windham Hill recordings (Michael Hedges) with its upbeat tenor but disciplined classical approach to composition. Other highlights include Center Of The Country, Lynda's Cannon and Montage.

Daryl Shawn shows distinct ability as a guitarist and composer. Dancing lightly back and forth across the chasm between pop and classical stylings, Shawn manages to create some magical moments along the way. As Promised began, at its core, as the celebration of the marriage of two people who love each other more than the morrow. Darryl Shawn communicates this with beautiful musical imagery that reflects and refines the day of marriage into a musical prism we can all enjoy. The additional material on As Promised simply outlines the range that Shawn is capable of, and of a talent that should provide more great listening in the years to come.

Rating: 4 Stars (Out of 5)

You can learn more about Daryl Shawn at http://www.darylshawn.com/. You can purchase a copy of As Promised at kunaki.com. You can download the album from Emusic or Amazon.com.