Serenity III: More Peaceful Music on the Chapman Stick
Reviewed By Janet Mawdesley January 28, 2019
Artist – Michael Kollwitz
Distributor:
Released: January 2019
Running Time: 36:01secs
Website: https://www.michaelkollwitz.com/
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The lovely dulcet tones created by Michael Kollwitz on his Chapman Stick have once again, on his latest album Serenity III – More peaceful Music on The Chapman Stick, been selected to enchant and relax the body, mind and soul. The rich velvety tones created on The Chapman Stick (The Stick) played by a Master, are simply beautiful.
This latest album from Kollwitz continues the serene thread begun with his first album created using only The Stick, Serenity – Peaceful Music on The Chapman Stick, an album made to present to the world the full and immensely rich scope that can be created by this intriguing instrument, when used as a stand-alone instrument, not just as a backing choice for some of the more immense sounds that need to be produced in modern music culture.
Learning from the creator of this amazing instrument Emmett Chapman more than forty years ago, Michael Kollwitz has become known as a stand-alone musician with his beloved “Stick”, performing at many venues throughout America, opening for the Beach Boys and attracting the attention of Carlos Santana who described the luscious sounds as ‘a gift from the heart’.
Musicians Keith Emerson, Mick Fleetwood, Steve Morse and Herbie Hancock, along with many others, have been introduced by Kollwitz, to the almost magical sounds and qualities of this unique member of the guitar family. Kollwitz and his Chapman Stick are now recognised worldwide for the immensely soothing and luxurious albums created in the genre of Relaxation and New Age music.
Opening with Cloud Number Eleven the velvet beauty of the music simply oozes out of the speakers, immediately slowing the pace, offering relaxation and time out, which simply continues on track after beautiful track.
Half way a through this sixteen-track collection is the delicate and subtle Contemplation, a piece that has a soft backing which enhances the sentiment of the title perfectly. For many the titles may feel like familiar friends, but become so much more, perhaps because the original emotion felt by the composer is unchallenged, presented in a more simplistic format with a delicate sensitivity, which seems to be a trademark of Michael Kollwitz, at least in his albums recorded on The Chapman Stick.
The final track on this restful album is fittingly Good Night Sleep Tight, which is almost perfection in is serenity, drawing this deliciously sumptuous collection to a restful and delightful finale.