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by
Matt Howarth · Soniccuriosity.com
This release from 2008 offers 62 minutes
of cerebral piano tunes seasoned with haunting ambience.
While Sanfilippo plays a sampled and processed grand piano, Grassow
contributes synth drones, glass harp and bow chime.
A distinct combination of tradition and modernism. As one might expect,
the music generally consists of piano laced with textural flows.
The keys are stroked with tenderness, evoking cerebral melodies steeped
in a soft serenity.
The notes are far from repetitive, utilizing a classical recital touch
that comfortably generates lush tunes of gentle beauty.
Meanwhile,
the electronics bestow an airy disposition on the tuneage.
Languid
atmospherics settle upon each song, immersing the serious piano chords
in a fog of ethereal majesty, enhancing the overall
elegance of the music.
These tones drift with little variance, maintaining a sighing resonance
with the central tunes, following their congenial progress with subtle
association, ebbing and rising in tandem with the piano’s emotional
state.
A certain transference goes on between the piano and the tonalities,
flavoring each other with their personal character.
The piano adopts a discrete intangibility, while the wafting ambience
picks up a touch of regal eloquence.
This trade-off serves to further unify the music into an undulant
presence of pacifying mien.
Yet there
are instances where the textural atmospherics move beyond their fragility
and attain a notable substantiality, sometimes rivaling the piano’s
lilting occupancy. The compositions are tranquil and stately, crafted
for appreciation by an intellectual audience.
The application of ephemeral atmospheric electronics only increases
the music’s introspective demeanor.
There are no surging tempos here, no surprise crescendos, just steadfast
structures of soothing influence.
by
rik ping things
In
honour of the tenth anniversary of ad21,
label head Bruno Sanfilippo has released "Ambessence
piano and drones", a collaboration with Mathias Grassow. Blending
together drones and piano work, this disc is a wonderful summation
of the label's sound, serving well as both a celebration for existing
fans and an introduction to ad21music for a new audience.
"Ambessence
Piano and Drones 1" opens the disc, weaving Sanfilippo's beautiful
piano work throughout the course of a steady drone supplied by Grassow.
Bruno's piano has a subtle charm here, displaying an emotional nature
that I've come to associate with his work. From the start it's clear
that this is an excellent pairing, the two working well together to
blend musical ideals and shape them into something new.
"Ambessence
Piano and Drones 2" features a more drone based feel, the piano
still very apparent but acting more as a counterpoint to the sound
of the drone. As it rises and falls in strength and volume, the drone
develops a more natural tone, the sound of wind or the tides, some
sort of powerful force that holds sway over all others. A particularly
dark and beautiful track.
In "Ambessence
Piano and Drones 3" the piano takes centre stage again, a mournful
melody played overtop a low drone.
It's a stunningly beautiful piece, a heartbreaking melody accompanied
by a dark and dreary mechanical tone that somehow brings to mind a
dark machine overtaking the countryside. Around the five minute mark,
the piano is dropped from the track and the drone shifts slightly,
reversed sounds sprinkled throughout the soundspace leading us to
the end. A very stirring and evocative work that's surely one of my
favorites on the disc.
A repeating
piano loop opens up "Ambessence Piano and Drones 4", layers
of melodic piano weaving in and around themselves.
Occasionally a low tone rises up through the sound, but for the most
part the soundfield is filled with a tapestry of piano sounds rising
and falling beautifully throughout the track, enveloping and encircling
the listener in quite beautiful ways.
"Ambessence
Piano and Drones 5" starts quietly with a slow drone that builds
up from nothing until it reaches a steady state of being. Sanfilippo's
piano blends in seamlessly, providing sparse melodies that fit in
perfectly with the proceedings.
A delicate, fragile and very very wonderful work.
There's
a certain regal sound to the drone that opens "Ambessence Piano
and Drones 6",
a feeling of rich tones and deep reverb. The track has a very full
sound that suggests caverns or chambers, places filled with mystery
and secrets. It's an evocative sound, one that's almost theatrical
in nature. Certainly another wonderful track that stands
out as one of my favorites in this collection.
A percolating
whirl of sounds opens "Ambessence Piano and Drones 7", alternating
ascending and descending arpeggios to form a backdrop to a sparse
melody. There's an uplifting quality to the track, a sense of hope
and possibility and of course that's always a good way to end things.
A very beautiful track to end a very beautiful disc.
I've
been a fan of ad21music's catalog for some now, and have very much
enjoyed all
of the work I've heard from them in the past. "Ambessence Piano
and Drones" is another excellent release from the label, a release
that I'm sure fans of both artists will appreciate very much. I strongly
recommend it not only as an excellent introduction to the label but
also as an example of how differing styles can be brought together
in ways that compliment and develop on each other's strengths.
by
Marius-Christian Burcea · RFI
Journeys to the InfiniteRadio
There
is a clear connection between Ambessence and the previous Sanfilippo's
title
Piano Textures. The floating, timeless quality of the piano notes
is still here, but now the effect is more intense with Grassow's textures
couched in subtle drones.
Moments of irresistible beauty silently vibrate and resonate inside,
opening a vast inner space of clarity and spiritual emotion.
This work seems to require an intuitive mode of perception that seeks
to overcome chaotic multiplicity and establish contact with a
deep and authentic unifying essence. Beneath the calm waves of Ambessence
lies the promise of bliss
by
Roberto Vales · A Ultima Fronteira
Qué
sucede cuando dos de los grandes nombres del panorama del ambient
actual se unen? Pues la creación de un fantástico trabajocomo
es "Ambessence Piano & Drones".
Bruno Sanfilippo que nos había deleitado con su anterior disco
"Piano Textures" se úne a Mathias Grassow para crear
este trabajo donde el título ya nos indica que es lo que nos
vamos a encontrar. Este disco es una perfecta sincronización
de los delicados sonidos de piano creados por Bruno Sanfilippo con
los inconfundibles drones de Mathias Grassow.
El sonido de Bruno se ha vuelto delicado, inconfudible, las notas
de su piano nos embriagan y se apoderan de nosotros, con su dulzura,
con su temple y la unión con Mathias ha dado lugar a un trabajo
de esos que hay que disfrutar tranquilamente, sentados en el sillón
ydejando que sus notas se vayan apoderando poco a poco de nosotros.
Como nos indican los propios compositores, este es un disco para escuchar
a un volumen moderado y es que este es un disco para
relajarnos, para disfrutar de sus sonidos, dejar que poco a poco se
apoderen de nosotros y nos embriaguen para sumergirnos en un lugar
de ensueño del cual no queremos salir.
by
Paul Rijkens · Dutch progressive rockmagazine iO Pages
Piano
Textures was the fitting title of the last solorecord by the Argentine
multi-instrumentalist Bruno Sanfilippo who lives and works in Spain.
This album was awarded a "Tip" in iO Pages #74. It contained
wonderful calm pianosounds with a atmospheric background. Music, that
looks rather simple but has a stunning beauty, as is the fact with
a lot of ambient music. On Ambessence, Piano & Drones, Sanfilippo
works with a musical kindred congenial from Germany, Mathias Grassow.
He is an experienced electronic/ambientmusician. Sanfilippo plays
the "Old Lady Grand Piano" (a sampled model 1923 Steinway
D, that he also used on Piano Textures) and Grassow "Neuronal
V-Synth Drones" and other instruments.
This collaboration again results in a great piece of soft, intense
music.
It is divided into seven parts. Grassow produced very intriguing calm
atmospheres (soundscapes, choirs) and Sanfilippo plays loosened and
relaxed on top of these sounds. This results in some extremely fine
moments as in the parts 1, 5, 6 and 7.
The last track could also be used as filmmusic.
Sometimes I hear a hint to the albums that Harold Budd and Brian Eno
produced together. This is excellent music to be played on a rather
quiet moment of the day, especially late in the evening. This disc
than should, as the gentlemen recommend, be listened at a moderate
volume. I hadn't planned it otherwise.
by
Bert Strolemberg · Sonicimmersion
After
his introspective solo album “Piano Textures”, Argentinean
composer Bruno Sanfilippo collaborated with German ambient musician
Mathias Grassow to create the transparent, sedate soundings of “Ambessence
piano & drones”.
The album contains seven reflective sonic excursions in which Bruno’s
delicate piano playing beautifuly compliments the fluid, airy soundscapes
of Mr Grassow. The outcome is dreamy and totally relaxing, a nice
means to sooth the mind and make it wander.
Those who love the ambient works of Brian Eno and Harold Budd should
make sure to get a copy of this well produced and composed album.
by
Paul Jury · Morpheus Music
Beautiful,
beautiful, soft, elegant piano melodies and subtle, enveloping drones.
Ambessence piano and drones sets a new level of blissful dreaminess.
Hazy, gossamer breathing strains with the lightest of touches hang
weightless, shapeless as if the very air itself has been transformed
into to music. Sometimes the underlying sonic textures are so transparent
they might simply be environmental recordings, a thickening of emptiness.
From within come the most exquisitely delicate piano lines you might
imagine, the most sensitive of fragile forms, muted phrases and dulcet
progressions that seem to have all the time in the world in which
to unfurl - each fresh piece as beguiling, as graceful as the last.
The balance between melody and ambient space is expertly worked so
that you never quite feel that you are listening to 'tunes' as such,
yet the gradual, spacious unfolding of these melancholy arrangements
has you captivated - pulled along like a fallen leaf on a stream.
ARTWORK: The album cover features a photograph by Dianne Owen of what
appear to be Anton Gormley's Another Place figures from the Mersey
Estuary. Sculpted sentinels stand upright gazing through waves of
digital mists - serene, dignified, bathed in grey - attentive, absorbed.
This image recurs throughout the package in varied form.
On the reverse is a timed tracklist and a recommendation on how to
listen to the album. Within we find a portrait of each musician set
against a panel of credits, website details and a breakdown of instrumentation.
OVERALL: Released on ad21music on the date of the label's 10th anniversary,
this latest release sees Argentinean Bruno Sanfilippo in collaboration
with the prolific German drone and overtone musician Mathias Grassow.
The seven tracks vary from just over six minutes through to just short
of fifteen - a total of one hour, one minute and fifty seconds of
pure escape. This release could easily become a tranquil backdrop
to your day should you wish it - but if you actually give yourself
over to it and listen completely you will be transported, so far from
daily life is this musical place, a place of lightness, sleepy introspection
and safety. Such economical, fragile keyboard work inevitably calls
to mind the gentler compositions of Satie - yet these musicians somehow
manage to free their pieces almost of all gravity altogether.
I can't recommend this CD highly enough.
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