Lillie
Joined: Apr 09, 2010 Posts: 15 Location: LA
|
Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2013 6:04 am Post subject:
Uwe Gronau's New CD Visions Subject description: NEW MUSIC FROM UWE GRONAU REFLECTS OUR MODERN SOCIETY |
|
|
Every now and then new music comes along that simply sounds modern, like the musician was able to look into the future and see where music is headed. That is the impression of the album Visions by Uwe Gronau. His background materials call him “uber-creative” (“uber” being a term we stole from the Germans meaning “mightily”) and that probably sums him up as well as anything. He is a keyboardist who plays some piano and organ, but mostly creates both wonderful synth-sounding sounds as well as great reproductions of bass, drums, guitars and occasional other instruments. Some of the music is melodic, some fairly ambient, some upbeat, some fairly soft, some minimalist, some with a complex ensemble sound.
The three tunes that are the most modern-sounding are “Night on the Roof” (piano, synth, drums and electric guitar), “Under the Pont Neuf” (electric piano, bass and a powerful synth, plus guest Pete Sayer on electric guitar) and “Centre Pompidou” (powerful drumming and lots of different vibrant synth sounds). As you might have guessed from the titles of those last two pieces, the album was inspired and influenced by Paris (the Pont Neuf is a famous bridge there and Centre Pompidou is a cultural building there dedicated to modern art). This is virile, visceral music with verve, vibrancy and vividness. Viva La France!
But Gronau also explores progressive-rock on “Ragman Talking,” jazz-like improvisational solo piano on “Open Windows,” space-rock on “Night Visions,” contemporary-modern jazz with a guest saxophonist on “Through the Backyard Window,” and the synthesized feeling of “Traffic” (on the tune of that name). There are softer tunes such as “Children in the Park,” “World in Your Arms,” “Oasis” and the piano-synth-rain tune “Old Man in the Rain.” You will hear forceful drumming on the uptempo, upbeat composition “Summer in the City,” and on the bouncy pulsating “Confirming the Question.”
Props and congratulations to Uwe Gronau for creating music for this modern era; music that reflects what we are seeing, hearing and feeling in this modern world; music that sounds like it is keeping up with our fast-paced world and our technology while remembering to reflect our humanness. Did I mention it also is simply a pleasure to listen to? |
|