Be Cool And Hip And Turn Your Friends Onto German Keyboardist Uwe Gronau

[Lillian]

Remember when, as children, we felt reallyalive? It was a time when everything wasfresh, new, exciting, challenging and magical. We felt like our parents were the king and queen of our world. If you were musical, either a singer or amusician, it seemed like everything was a song -- the wind in the trees, adog’s howl, a baby talking. We couldhardly speak without breaking into song and dance from the simple thrill ofbeing alive and happy. The Germanmusician Uwe Gronau tries to capture some of those feelings with the music onhis latest album, When Every Word Was Singing. Of course he covers other terrain too such aspolitics, love and nature. He even has asong about bullfights. On this newrecording, Gronau sings on about a third of the original compositions and theother nine are instrumental pieces. Thisis common for Gronau, to mix up an album with both vocals and instrumentals,something he has done repeatedly over the course of about a dozen-and-a-halfalbums.

His style is usually considered part of the newage music scene, but there are elements of prog-rock, pop, rock, jazz andavant-garde. It may sound like this guyis all over the place, but somehow it all works. His albums are exciting because of thediversity since you never really know what is coming next, even within a singletune. And When Every Word Was Singingis no exception. Gronau’s specialty is keyboards(piano, organ and synth) which, of course, he can make sound like a variety ofother instruments. But he also has acouple of friends come in to add some guitars and percussion here andthere. The end result is an exciting,keyboard-oriented, European and very modern-sounding record. He floats between new age, chill, groove andelectronica along with those influences mentioned above. Put this CD on at a dinner party and getready for guest after guest to ask: “What IS that we are listening to?” Be suave, hip and cool, but pronounce hisname correctly. It sounds like ooo-vuhgrow-now (the first syllable is like when a cow goes “Moo” without the M). Oh, you hip swinger, you.

 

[John Watt]

I had to struggle to read this, but it's so well-written I want to make it easier for others.
Maybe I should update that old Stones song, Paint it Black.

I saw some black font and I had to make it white.
Don't change the background now, I want to see all white.
I see this girl typing, about this jazz player.
I want to read some more,
before she goes to log out....
Sorry Lillian!

Remember when, as children, we felt really alive? It was a time when everything was fresh, new, exciting, challenging and magical. We felt like our parents were the king and queen of our world. If you were musical, either a singer or a musician, it seemed like everything was a song -- the wind in the trees, adog’s howl, a baby talking. We could hardly speak without breaking into song and dance from the simple thrill of being alive and happy. The German musician Uwe Gronau tries to capture some of those feelings with the music on his latest album, When Every Word Was Singing. Of course he covers other terrain too such as politics, love and nature. He even has asong about bullfights. On this new recording, Gronau sings on about a third of the original compositions and the other nine are instrumental pieces. This is common for Gronau, to mix up an album with both vocals and instrumentals,something he has done repeatedly over the course of about a dozen-and-a-half albums.

His style is usually considered part of the new age music scene, but there are elements of prog-rock, pop, rock, jazz and avant-garde. It may sound like this guy is all over the place, but somehow it all works. His albums are exciting because of the diversity since you never really know what is coming next, even within a single tune. And When Every Word Was Singing is no exception. Gronau’s specialty is keyboards(piano, organ and synth) which, of course, he can make sound like a variety of other instruments. But he also has a couple of friends come in to add some guitars and percussion here and there. The end result is an exciting,keyboard-oriented, European and very modern-sounding record. He floats between new age, chill, groove and electronica along with those influences mentioned above. Put this CD on at a dinner party and get ready for guest after guest to ask: “What IS that we are listening to?” Be suave, hip and cool, but pronounce his name correctly. It sounds like ooo-vuhgrow-now (the first syllable is like when a cow goes “Moo” without the M). Oh, you hip swinger, you.