Times and Dreams by Gary Schmidt

 

Times and Dreams

By

Gary Schmidt

Written by

Steve Sheppard

 

I could not believe it when I checked, but it’s near on 15 years ago since I first came into contact with the music of Gary Schmidt in 2011 and an album called La Vie en Piano. Moving forward to now, I am happy to bathe in this latest creation form the artist called Times and Dreams, this is Gary’s seventh full album, a peaceful lake of piano based music to simply drift within.

Gary is joined on the album by cellist Hannah Alkire, and on this beautiful release the calm and fluent resonance of her work can be heard on the very first piece entitled Times and Dreams, which is of course the title track of the album. A beautiful fluid presentation can be heard here, one that takes me back to the old styled new age piano motifs you used to get from performers like Doug Hammer or perhaps Louis Colaiannia back in the day.

We move beautifully to a track that was actually a single during 2025 and called Rumi's Truth. The piece draws inspiration from the spiritual poetry and teachings of the 13th‑century Sufi mystic and poet Rumi, something my father strangely seemed to have an interest in later in his life, I think he would have loved this beautiful narrative as well; the soft left hand and the ultra-creative right are the magicians here that manifest utter beauty for us all.

In Paradisum is a Latin phrase meaning “into paradise” I live in the paradisum called Cyprus. This illustrious tonal delight is proud and regal but retains a softer base as a peaceful, reflective tone typical of his style, thus manifesting a contemplative, dream‑like quality that echoes the idea of entering paradise, a masterpiece that one might remember from composers like Gabriel Fauré.

Cellist Hannah Alkire returns on this next track entitled Dance in the Shadows, this beautiful offering flourishes and sways with a ripeness of tone and timbre like no other. The artist’s melodic structures here create a heart-warming performance, in among the weave of the more classical nuanced passages.

Amber Horizons is another lush construction that contains a faster tempo, but a beautiful balanced one, and reminds me in musical context of my old friend David Lanz in style, there is a tale here that is like a glowing pathway from a delightful vista, here is a wonderfully descriptive and artist piece manifested by being solidly in the moment.

Couperin is our next piece and a short form arrangement, and pays homage to the 18^th century French composer, even though the piece is just 92 seconds long, it speaks volumes about the beauty of the life we lead, if we could only recognise it to be so without our own realm.

So we can conclude with our final offering entitled Peace Prayer, a clever parting gift here from the artist, almost like a lullaby or something anthem like can be found here, the melody is memorable too, and will stick in the listeners minds long after the album has been concluded.

Times and Dreams by Gary Schmidt is a soothing and colourful release, one that any fan of piano with added instrumentation will absolutely love, the texture of the album is what struck me as the most palpable, it’s like eating your favourite meal so slowly, because you never want it to end, it’s a veritable tapestry of a blissful musical heaven, as such I predict a big chart position and lots of streams for, Times and Dreams by Gary Schmidt.