CARL WITT

Quiet Mind

Heon Music (2000)

review by Bill Binkelman

With it's minimalist graphic approach (the paradox of sumptuosly beautiful photographic images by renowned nature photographer Craig Blacklock yet no text on the album exterior except the title and artist), Quiet Mind (an apt title if ever there was one) is a sterling example of a cover befitting its contents. Subtitled "piano meditations by Carl Witt," the CD is a collection of untitled (in fact, there are no track selections listed, although there are five "cues" on the album) and (traditionally) unstructured yet delicate and sublime solo piano pieces. Definitely not for the Lanz/Gratz/Ciani crowd, the impressionistic nature of these pieces, which are completely improvised, lend the music an intimacy and reflective vibe that would seem ideally suited to...well, the "quiet mind."

Even the pieces that are more "active" (in this case, more notes and less silence) are not what I would call uptempo by a long shot. Instead, the contrast of the cuts that are more dominated by spaces between notes brings a refreshing twist to this solo piano outing. There are refrains, of a sort, on some songs (e.g. number two), but even these are more or less just repeated notes more than the actual use of a melodic "hook." I suppose the obvious comparison to make would be to George Winston, except that I'm not sure Winston ever worked as much with exploring the silence between notes. In spirit, this is closer to the recent work from Ernesto Diaz-Infante, except it has an emotional warmth to it that Diaz-Infante seems to purposely avoid. Which is not to say that Quiet Mind is "cheery," but it is decidedly not melancholic. Instead, it's about as neutral as music can be while still working in a primarily (yet not exclusive) major key (to my ears, at least).

I found myself attracted to the more abstract pieces, such as cut three and cut one. I thought the music captured the feeling of solitude in nature which (many times) I seek in recordings of this type. It evoked the feel of walking in the woods. In this way, the album for me was quite "non-urban" but this reaction is heavily influenced by my personal karma, if you will. There are no nature sounds on the album and no liner notes about saving the Earth, although the poem from Gerard Manley Hopkins (in the inner section of the unique non-jewel case paper CD cover) eloquently expresses a person's need for beauty in the natural world just the same.

I hate to use the term "refined" when reviewing music. It smacks of elitism and cultural snobbery. But the aesthetic of Carl Witt's Quiet Mind is so, well, poetic, that I don't know what better term to use. Yet, the music is suffused with humanity and depth of feeling as well. So, I find myself shrugging my shoulders and just resigning myself to praising the album as a great example of a "little" (as in "few notes") music yielding a lot of pleasure. Album engineering is particularly good (the piano sustain is clear as a bell, which is crucial with how long some notes are held) and all in all, the CD is a must for people looking for accompaniment to massage, reflection, or journaling. Beautiful without being intrusive, Quiet Mind is one of the best piano recordings in my collection.