Philip Aaberg - Field Notes
Sweetgrass Music
I get disconnected from that crazy spaghetti junction
of speed and details of life when I listen to Philip Aaberg. As cliché
as it sounds I find myself saying out loud, "Yeah, this is how
I want to feel" with every tune that's played from 'Field Notes.'
There is nothing hurried or overly complicated in the Philip Aaberg
style. Sure it's difficult as hell to play but it doesn't sound that
way. Maybe that's part of the glue that makes Philip Aaberg stay with
us long after the CD stops spinning. Like a great movie that imprints
a certain mood to our psyche for days Aaberg creates a mood of being
in an open field watching the clouds do their thing and not having a
care in the world. As with previous albums much of the music on 'Field
Notes' is improvised and like ground breaking albums like 'High Plains'
and 'Out Of The Frame' there is a sense of joy and mystery that layers
every track(though this one has a more serious tone). It's almost as
if Aaberg knows something that the rest of us don't, as if he listens
to nature with more receptive ears. This is also another Montana album
where by six of the tracks were written for the Montana Repertory theatre's
production of 'To Kill a Mockingbird." The album is divided into
three suites representing three separate projects. 'Field Notes' will
leave you feeling better inside your skin and this kind of piano playing
does nothing else but bring one closer to whoever brought us here. Its
straight solo piano played with more skill and sensitivity than most
of us are used to. It's not the sugary, sappy fare we hear by osmosis
in elevators or airports, it's a soundtrack for the thinking ones, the
sensitive ones, for anyone interested in self discovery. Aaberg sums
up 'Field Notes' best on his web site www.philipaaberg.com
"I hope you like spring water! You'll have to go somewhere else
for Kool-Aid or Coca-Cola". In this genre no one can touch Philip
Aaberg! It's albums like this one that keep the solo piano art form
strong and relevant.
- By John Beaudin
