Montana Stillwater By Wayo Hogan

 

Montana Stillwater

By

Wayo Hogan

Written by

Steve Sheppard

 

The genre that is solo piano has been a constant in my life over the last 10 years or so, it’s an ever growing one too, so to stand out in it can sometimes be a perilous thing, however this debut album from pianist and composer Wayo Hogan does the one thing that convinces me that a star is on the rise in the genre, and that thing is the creative intelligence to manifest musical locations and make then incredibly palpable, through the compositional structures of the up and coming arrangements. Here on Montana Stillwater, Wayo Hogan does just that and more, this is an album that depicts Glacier National Park’s breath-taking landscapes, and does it with great style and panache.

The opening offering Stillwater Landing, is a vibrant scene setter of a composition, one that juxtaposes the calming sight of a natural location connected with the life that surrounds it. That is followed up with the piece On Lake McDonald, I adore lakes and nature, and I found that Hogan’s presentation has that quality that only sublime compositions have contained within their narrative, and one that is so redolent of the subject matter, so this for me personally had a lush flow to its arrangement that I simply adored, and it was indeed my favourite piece from the release.

This album flows with passion, colours and textures, which weave a creative tapestry into the mix. When we look at the composition Whitefish Lake, this for me, became a flourishing narrative that created an image of a vibrant location, whilst the offering entitled Swan River delivered a haunting reverie of great beauty and charm. One of the most delightful of things to do if you live in the right location is to watch swans swim with the rivers flow, and for me Hogan once more created that reality from my past.

At the half way juncture I feel the need to acknowledge the moments of natural sounds at the start of some of the compositions, they are brief, but very cleverly added, on the track Going to the Sun, we have a sense of happy times in the wilderness of nature’s rich tapestry, whilst the following creation entitled St. Mary Falls is indeed a horse of a different colour entirely, and its flowing voyage of solo piano is almost regal in its intent, as indeed only a waterfall can be.

When we reach the piece Bear Valley we come across a contemplative narrative, one that ushers forth a mood of contemplation and reflection, and perhaps even the grounding energies of the bear as an animal totem too, whilst the next piece entitled Huckleberry Mountain has a homely feel to its compositional structures, a mood of growth both natural and spiritual can be found here in abundance.

A gentle tonal delight now awaits us on the penultimate offering from the album called Many Glacier, here can be found an almost meditative manifestation of great visuals, and drawing images of a calm stillness from each note played on the piano, and is in my view one of the more mood filled compositions from the album.

The concluding musical narrative called Cherry Pickin ends our voyage of piano with the artist, here is a full flowing creation filled with a mixture of moods and sensitivities. The culmination of efforts here bring about a final cascade of crafted solo work from the performer, one at its final conclusion that brings about a resolution of sorts, and is the perfect way with which to end the project.

Montana Stillwater by Wayo Hogan is a vibrant new solo piano album from an artist who clearly brings a level of excitement, and a fresh perspective to this vast genre with his latest work. Each piece is fluent, artistically sound and always redolent of the subject matter, and will easily be loved by fans of the piano realm with ease.