Positano Songs
Reviewed By Janet Mawdesley April 20, 2022
Artist – Will Ackerman
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In May, 1953 John Steinbeck wrote “Positano bites deep. It is a dream place that isn’t quite real when you are there and becomes beckoningly real after you have gone.”
Positano Songs from Will Ackerman captures this sentiment perfectly as Positano is exactly that, a small community cascading down a steep hillside, a town that is something very special with its charm, thousands of stairs leading to hidden destinations, the beautiful Tyrrhenian Sea at its feet and the place where dreams can come true, if only you believe.
For many years Ackerman suffered a lack of creativity with his music. He began to believe he could find inspiration in Positano, a place he and his wife had spent many years and married in the chapel. He has dedicated two of the songs, the first track Nighttime in the Chapel, written after a night time visit to the small chapel and the beautiful Our Wedding Song to this special time in his life.
Each song captures something of the delight and charm that is readily to be found anywhere you choose to look with the delightful For Carmine, dedicated to a long-time friend, a gentle blend of guitar and violin, as is For Giovanni, a serene song found further into the sublime collection.
This is where it begins is a delicious, romantic piece that enchants, as it lulls the senses into a mellow time and space. Slower paced and almost hesitant is the captivating The Tyrrhenian Sea which captures the gentle movement of the water as it laps at the cliff face, easing gently onto the small beaches to be found here and there, once again adding a special magic.
Eventually this enchanted moment in time comes to a finale with I Had To Go There, short and simple it is a brief farewell to a sojourn of pure delight.
There are times when seeking words to describe music is difficult and often one or two can simply describe the work: in this case sumptuous, sublime and captivating will do.
Reflecting on his lack of inspiration to composed Ackerman said, “By 2015 I hadn’t written any new music in quite some time…it occurred to me that if there were any place in this world where I could probably find inspiration and write again, it would be in Positano, Italy.” Will Ackerman.
Did Ackerman find that illusive inspiration; he surely did.