Click above to hear a 23 min. interview with Chrissie Sheppard in Cyprus about my new album ‘Calm Waters’ on One World Music Radio’s ‘Album Show’. Three of the songs from the album are aired in their entirety plus the stories behind the album and the songs. Enjoy! P. S. At the bottom of this post also read the review by Steve Sheppard.
Calm Waters By Michael Kollwitz
Calm Waters
By
Michael Kollwitz
Written by
Steve Sheppard
The Chapman Stick must surely be one of the most calming musical instruments on the planet today, its soothing refrains, its relaxing tones, all go to manifest a warm bed of musical tranquillity to enjoy, on any day and location you wish to choose, and this brand new release by top class exponent of the Stick, Michael Kollwitz, are certainly very Calm Waters for us to navigate.
Calm Waters is bliss on a stick, literally, and from the off one will be soothed by the gentleness of the opening piece Baby Beach, we are then ushered into a world of serenity on tracks like Skyhawk, or the textured musical waves of Quiet River, a composition that presents such a pleasurable feeling, and a lush mental vista.
All times of the day are catered for too, listen to Morning Star, a more relaxing musical narrative you will not find, and why not float in the arms of tracks like Under The Sea, a wonderfully slow tempo can be found here, and one can indeed literally float within this pristine offering, this would turn out to be one of my personal favourites from the album, it contained such grace and calmness, I gazed across the ocean outside of my widow, and felt immediately relaxed.
Calm Waters is a heavenly 12 track collection of ambience personified, and compositions like Red Moon Rising or the final concluding offering Mysterious Journey will set scenes of outstanding natural beauty, the latter has a sensitive base to its construction, but also a much crafted sense of intrigue about its arrangement too.
Calm Waters by Michael Kollwitz just has to be that album that will ease that furrowed brow and be still that beating heart, this is the perfect album to spin after a hard days graft; it is an oasis of calm, a musical paradise of peace, and a sensual sanctuary of serenity. Simply put, the Chapman Stick never sounded so good.