R.J. Lannan
The fury and rage of unseen forces manifests itself in the first song, The Gale. Composer Timothy Wenzel’s blusterous music, a very bold theme indeed, imagines the crashing waves on a lake shore with waters every bit as angry as any ocean, a vast sky the color of pewter, and an unforgiving Arctic driven wind that knows no bounds. The Great Lakes are filled with the skeletons of iron ships that took chances and failed, their crews lost, their vessels demolished, and their memories written in poetry. Wenzel’s tune tells these tales in sharp, contrasting black notes on white paper with endless shades of passionate gray. Living near the shore of Lake Michigan has its influences.
Immerse, the title tune opens with a warm, acoustic guitar with a balance of some sincere piano riffs that act as an invitation to the listener. A welcoming violin joins in and the theme is like an open door to a sanctuary of sound. Please enter and no need to knock. Timothy’s refuge is a world of flowing sound that offers peace where none existed before. The allurement to sit back, close your eyes, and forget about the troubles of the day is subliminal, but it should not go unheeded.
One of the songs that I continually revisit when listening is called Ice. It has an eerie Ludovico Einaudi vibe to it that I admire very much with its strong piano melody and its bold accompanying strings. Each year, from freezing cold waves in the fall to strange frozen shapes in winter, the lake ice creates a fascinating story. Timothy’s music chronicles the winter season as layer upon layer of ice covers all with a thick, impervious frosty coating casting all it touches into hoary frozen shapes that remain until spring. Wenzel’s icy theme is so cold it cannot be touched, only heard and admired as it sparkles like diamonds on a winter’s day. One of my favorites on Immerse.
Like some mythical phoenix of stone and wood, one of the most notable creations of architect Frank Lloyd Wright is the thrice burned building called Taliesin. Situated in a sunny place in Wisconsin, it is a boxy structure steeped in tragedy and noted for housing a number of victims of a deranged mind. As the subject of Wenzel’s woeful tune Taliesin, it is a lamentation over the tragedy. Sad English horn and dolorous violin sing along with poignant piano over the terrible loss.
Timothy becomes the balladeer on the next two cuts River, Hills, and Sky and A Man on the Run. River, Hills, and Sky is a great example of what has become known as Americana. A little folksy, a little homespun with elements of new world Appalachia woven in the fabric. Predominately piano and guitar, A Man on the Run incongruously shows a distinct lack of urgency. The tune does have serious movement and a sense of relentlessness, but with a destination unknown.
There is Celtic fare within the tune Nightfall at Avebury. A lofty stone edifice in the middle of an English field has sparked the imagination of millions over centuries. Wenzel’s alluring mythical tune suggesting starry nights and clandestine celebrations is just what the spirit needs. His combination of faraway voices, earnest piano, and enchanted violin will make you believe that Merlin, out of stones and magic, really did build this towering tribute to King Arthur.
With the help of a kind brass horn and gentle guitar, a bright piano melody blends together in the final tune Thank You For Your Smile It seems that Mr. Wenzel managed to include just about all of the players on the last cut so I list them all now. Jill Haley on English horn, Electric guitar by David Cullen and violin by Jose Quick. Cello is by Graham Cullen, acoustic guitar by Tom Carleno, percussion by Jeff Haynes, and of course, all piano and synth by Timothy Wenzel.
What composer Timothy Wenzel manages to do, within a dozen cohesive contemporary/New Age instrumentals is create an album of inspiring music that allows you to take the definitive sound bath. Every note, every vibration, every wave of sound will touch, tingle, and ultimately cleanse your weary spirit of the layers of anger, exhaustion, and despair precipitated by a modern world. In other words, Immerse will refresh your soul. Very highly listenable.
- R J Lannan, ArtisanMusicReviews.com
Kathy Parsons
Immerse is the ninth album from composer/pianist/keyboardist Timothy Wenzel and the fifth of his albums that I've reviewed - something I always look forward to! Timothy explains some of his motivations for the music on the album: "I often write in winter, when I can walk the countryside alone, especially at night and then return to the warm studio. So being alone is one theme: solitude, time to think and all those things a card-carrying introvert needs for happiness and productivity." A stellar cast of supporting musicians includes Josie Quick on violin (10 tracks), Tom Carleno on acoustic guitar (9 tracks), David Cullen on electric guitar (2 tracks), Graham Cullen on cello (11 tracks), Jill Haley on English horn (2 tracks) and Jeff Haynes on percussion (5 tracks). Corin Nelsen produced, mixed, mastered, and did some of the recording. In addition to composing the twelve tracks and playing keyboards and synthesizers, Timothy took the album photographs and designed the cover artwork. It's a beautiful package as well as an outstanding album!
Immerse begins with "The Gale," an intense piece with quite a backstory. In short, the music was composed as the soundtrack to a video Timothy took recently of a major storm on Lake Michigan with gale-force winds and a temperature near freezing. With careful planning, he was able to film the huge waves as they slammed against a lighthouse. It's well-worth watching the video to fully understand where the music came from. "Hello My Friend" is much lighter and happier with kind of a Celtic feeling. The title track begins with an acoustic guitar solo before becoming a trio (mostly) for guitar, violin and piano with wordless choral vocals. The cover photo is taken close to where the video for "The Gale" was shot, but shows the lake in a totally different light - literally - as does the music. Warm, calm and very peaceful, it's a beauty! Timothy has been fascinated with ice for most of his life, and the piece called "Ice" delivers a very definite chill yet remains peaceful and magical. "Far From Here" recalls a trip to Bolivia: "Never have we had an experience like that: at once so physically demanding yet so indescribably rewarding." Guitar, cello and violin team up with the piano to tell the peaceful story. "Taliesin" refers to the home Frank Lloyd Wright built for his family in Wisconsin. Tragically, the home was destroyed by arson, but Wright rebuilt it - twice. The piece is mournful yet reflects strength and determination. Jill Haley's English horn is haunting, as is the cello. "Rivers, Hills and Sky" has a beautiful Celtic, "folkie" spirit and is an ode to Timothy's second home in West Virginia. "Water, Light and Joy" was inspired by the International Fountain in Seattle. Performed with a quartet of piano/keyboards, guitar, cello and violin, the music expresses peace, optimism and a sense freedom - gorgeous! The album closes with "Thank You for Your Smile," which Timothy calls "Simply a love song..." The full ensemble except Jeff Haynes (percussion) plays on this heartwarming piece that is sure to bring a smile to your own face!
Immerse is another wonderful musical experience from Timothy Wenzel! It is available as CDs, downloads and streaming on Amazon, streaming and downloads from Apple Music/iTunes and from many streaming platforms including Spotify. Highly recommended!
– Kathy Parsons “Mainly Piano” https://mainlypiano.com/reviews/timothy-wenzel-immerse
Immerse
By
Timothy Wenzel
Written by
Steve Sheppard
Timothy Wenzel has long been an instrumentalist whose music has always resonated with me; it is a radiant joy each time I get the honour of reviewing his latest album release. That joy glows brighter than the noon day sun today as I swim through the musical water courses of an incredibly beautifully new collection of stunning arrangements called, Immerse.
Firstly the art work is always going to draw one to the album, Timothy always manifests truly colourful and meaningful covers, this one resonated with me specifically, as it reminds me of a coastal area I like to go to here in Cyprus, during the winter it is particularly ambient and quiet, I like it then best of all.
The opening start of this journey of great tone and timbre begins with the lush textures of The Gale, an exciting piece that contains a creative and artistic flow of a composition that one can enjoy with ease, this flows gently into the open arms of one of my personal favourite pieces off the release entitled Hello My Friend, where a warm tapestry of sound drifts beautifully into and onto the senses of the grateful listener.
This new release is a 12 track masterpiece of patience, mood, feeling, and sensitivity to the moment, and a skill set of adding further quality musicians into the mix of various songs, on this album you will find a veritable plethora of instrumental genius in artists like, Tom Carleno (acoustic guitar), David Cullen (electric guitar), Graham Cullen (cello), Jill Haley (English horn), Jeff Haynes (percussion), and Josie Quick (violin) each in their own right quality instrumentalists.
Tracks like My Siren created waves of supreme compositional structure to bathe in, and the strings and vocalisations add a little Celtic motif into the essence of the offering, whilst more grounded pieces like River, Hills and Sky gave the listener a slice of acoustic magic, and a piece that had all the hallmarks of a 70’s pop song in the making, and one that would possibly make a good single release in today’s market.
There are several tracks here that resonate with me, this one especially and entitled Nightfall at Avebury, now I have visited Stonehenge many times, but never got around to Averbury, but it is a beautiful location, and this song is equally as beautiful and its hovering sense of mystery, wonderfully composed and performed.
The acoustic narrative is strong in the concluding track called Thank You for Your Smile, and its mournful yet reflective refrains show just what a good keyboardist Wenzel is on the most perfect of all final pieces, the electric guitar of Cullen sealing the deal completely.
This fantastic new offering from Timothy Wenzel is like a breath of fresh air in the new age music industry, when Timothy releases an album he always seems to come up with something special, and with this brand new album entitled Immerse we truly do have something idyllic and heart-warming to listen to. I don’t need a crystal ball to predict the up and coming success of Immerse on the charts, as this one is a sure fire hit with absolute ease.
Bill Binkelman – Wind and Wire
Pianist/keyboardist Timothy Wenzel already had a great knack for composing memorable melodic music going back to his earliest releases. However, I once pointed out in a review back then that using keyboard samples of other instruments, e.g., violin, lessened the overall quality of the compositions. He obviously listened as he started using guest stars on their assorted instruments. The impact has been an substantial improvement, and on his newest release, Immerse, Wenzel has taken yet another step forward as the melodies on this album showcase a depth and maturity and an emotional focus that clearly elevates him to the upper echelon of similar artists.
There is an inherent and palpable melancholy and loneliness to Wenzel’s compositions on Immerse and, in fact, he alluded to this when he sent me notes for the one-sheet I wrote for him: “I often write in winter, when I can walk the countryside alone, especially at night and then return to the warm studio. So being alone is one theme: solitude, time to think and all those things a card-carrying introvert needs for happiness and productivity.” It’s Wenzel’s ability to tap into this deep well-spring of emotion that flows through all twelve of Immerse’s tracks.
Much of the album is mid to slow paced which suits the songs’ melodies perfectly. Something of interest to me is how Wenzel’s music can be quite dramatic without resorting to the loudness of a piece, powerful bombast, or other issues that are used by some other artists to emphasize the “oomph” of a particular song. This quality which he exhibits increases the “play-through” of Immerse, meaning that for most people, they would not need to skip a track in order to not “break the overall mood.” While melodies are most prominent on the album, subtle percussion does come into play on five tracks, and when it is there it fits in perfectly. Some of this is likely/certainly due to Corin Nelsen’s superb work at the board (he is credited with producing, mixing, and mastering the recording).
The album opener, “The Gale,” features all but one of the guest artists (see details below) contributing and it’s one of the few “faster” songs, driven especially by the violin of Josie Quick and cello of Graham Cullen. Mid-song, Wenzel incorporates a warm but eerie keyboard sound before transitioning to piano. The moodiness of the song is a major component its favor. Choral samples mid-song on the title track are spot on in execution. One of my favorite songs here is “Taliesen” (the name for each of Frank Lloyd Wright’s Wisconsin and Arizona homes/studios) due to a wonderful piano refrain (heard most prominently at the outset). The album concludes with “Thank You for Your Smile," which is the warmest song on Immerse and offers a sincerely charming evocation to close out things.
I’ve followed Timothy Wenzel from his first release to now and am impressed how, with each successive release, he delves deeper into his muse as well consistently elevating both his performing and composing talent. I have no doubt he will continue to favor us with his music, which is something to be glad about.
ALBUM DETAILS
All music composed by Timothy Wenzel
Album produced, mixed and mastered by Corin Nelsen (SynchroSonic Productions)
Album recorded by the artists except where noted below* (recorded at SynchorSonic)
Album artwork, design, and photography by Timothy Wenzel
INSTRUMENT CREDITS
Timothy Wenzel: Piano, keyboards, synthesizers
Josie Quick: Violin*
Tom Carleno: Acoustic guitar
David Cullen: Electric guitar*
Graham Cullen: Cello*
Jill Haley: English horn
Jeff Haynes: Percussion
Bill Binkelman – Wind and Wire