Richard Schumacher - Waterlilys (2014) [Hi-Res]

On his first solo album Richard Schumacher (VIBE TRIBE) presents a wonderful set of scenic tunes with acoustic guitar pieces setting the mood, just waiting to be commented on by Richard’s 71 Telecaster ... openness to a more reflective pace and quiet mood this time, the desire to just pluck in and play was the way to go – featuring Will Kennedy (YELLOWJACKETS), Munyungo Jackson (STEVIE WONDER) and beautifully recorded and co-produced by Reinhard Karwatky, you are in for a real sonic treat ...

For sometime now, the highly praised VIBE TRIBE CD´s have been the main focus for Richard Schumacher, summing up his interest in longer compositions, featuring a stellar cast of musicians, like Bill Evans, Patrice Rushen, Terri Lyne Carrington, Mitch Forman, Kai Eckhard , just to name a few. So now it was finally time to look into a more guitar-oriented venture, thinking of a mix of tunes you might enjoy just for their simplicity, as well as their intimacy, which was already to be found in some acoustic pieces on Vibe Tribe albums before. Together with his long-time production partner Reinhard Karwatky, the two set out to record those moments of true improvisation. In his own words: “When I play guitar, I try to let the music come to the surface in its most purest form, which to me is always a wonderful experience, and I truly cherish those special moments, when “it happens”… sometimes the guitar by itself is already very satisfying, other times we use the basic tracks to develop more sophisticated arrangements growing out of that first inspiration – as long as the musical result is telling a story, we´re usually on a good path to its very end”. Just a single note may arise to beauty, surrounded by silence (“Evening Glow” or “When it was now”), opposed to his Fender telecaster flying high (“Honey Delta Blues”), or the African heat you may almost grab with your fingers, based on Munyungo Jackson´s hypnotic marimba groove (“Daylight Passage”)

The individual songs could very well be described as milestones of a voyage, or the journey through life: “ To me, it is always exciting to somewhat instinctively allow for good music to grow out of what one experiences in life – that connection is based on feeling more than anything else in my view, since music seems to be the only language which truly describes what is happening inside of us, what goes on in that area beyond mere words…”

When you listen to “Waterlilys”, there is always enough air and space to enjoy that very area, allowing for a pleasant, as well as introspective journey.

Richard Schumacher, guitar, vocals, programming
Will Kennedy, drums
Munyungo Jackson, percussion
Marcio Doctor, percussion