Michael Hoppe, Martin Tillman, Tim Wheater - Afterglow (1999)

Under the skilled and intuitive guidance of musician and composer Michael Hoppe on keyboards, Afterglow is a collaborative effort of deep sensual beauty and full-figured elegance. With such improvisational songs as "Shadows Fall," the driving pulse of Martin Tillman's cello intensifies the mindful meandering of flutist Tim Wheater's rounded tones. And on the bittersweet "A Thousand Whispers," Tillman's strings take on a boldly brooding neoclassicism bearing out the project's premise to have "deeply felt performances" supercede all other motives. Elsewhere, as on "The Listening Wind," Wheater's melodies float, quiver, and reverberate a pattern of primitive lines in contrast to Tillman's innovative, plucky tick-tock. Built solely on the nonwritten structures set by Hoppe, the emotionally rich and relaxing Afterglow is the spontaneous, supple, and spirited union of three of the most masterful soloists of instrumental music.