The View From Here By Michael Gettel

 

The View From Here

By

Michael Gettel

Written by

Steve Sheppard

 

I have just been enjoying myself; and I really need it, I am currently recovering from illness and listening to this brand new album from Michael Gettel, The View From Here, was exactly the musical medication I needed. I think I am going to convince you now, that this may well be one of the top solo piano albums I have heard so far this year with ease, and you all know just how many solo piano albums I review!

The opener for me was so special; Gettel employed the skill sets of delicacy and grandeur, and succeeded on both fronts like a true consummate master of the keys with the title track from the album, The View From Here, a truly clever composition and a vastly superior performance, one that any pianist would be proud of as an opening track on a new album, and filled with passion too.

There are some wonderfully pretty tracks on this release that seem as if they have almost been painted by the artist himself, one such example is Oh So Many Stars, but my heart totally opened up at the start of Odiles Garden, this is Gettel in masterful mode, and producing a track that I am going to have to draw to the attention of my dear friend David Lanz very soon, I am sure this picturesque piano narrative, this pastiche of natural sounds, and this all engrossing opus of genius will get a thumbs up from the maestro as well.

The View From Here by Michael Gettel is an album created by an artist of such talent, there is the sublime ambience of tracks like Lone Tree, the descriptive nuances of Medano Creek and the pristine perfection of Van Gogh Sky, each and every track layered with love, charm and a professionalism that is so nice to see once more, can it really be 20 years since Michaels last album!

The album is concluded by a piece I felt pretty much mirrored my mood today, I feel like I have come out of a cocoon and wish to embrace the thermals of life’s rich tapestry again, this last parting gift I will forever be so very grateful for and entitled Aerial, a composition played with tenderness and a blissful fluency.

We may have had to wait 20 years for The View From Here by Michael Gettel, but I was certainly worth the wait. Here is an album that will become a personal favourite of mine, as I hope it will of yours, Gettel’s brush strokes of colour, tone, and timbre will allow its listener to follow the artist along on a totally fulfilling sojourn of solo piano with a little extra. I urge you, this is quality, don’t hesitate, make a copy yours right now, your heart will love you for it forever.