Published on Oct 31, 2003
I owe new age pianist Vince Madison a public apology.
You see, I first was given a copy of
Autumn Road, his 2001 release, after hearing Madison perform
at Hawthorn Center Shopping Mall in Vernon Hills, Illinois last
year. I was so intrigued by what I had heard that I stopped over,
introduced myself, and offered to review his work on “The Daily
Vault”.
It has literally taken me over a year to get to writing a review
on
Autumn Road, and for good reason: it’s taken me this long to
really feel comfortable with it. It’s not that the performances or
the songs themselves are bad; indeed, that’s not the case at all.
It’s just that, for some reason, this collection of 11 piano-based
songs confounds my emotions and sometimes left me a little numb
mentally, making me confused as to what I had heard and what was
going on in my head.
It’s an interesting thing, really. Madison’s touch on the piano
is gentle but forceful, daring to stir up the emotional center of
one’s brain if you sit back and allow the music to come at you on
its own terms. But when I hear a song like “Requiem,” no matter how
beautiful I think it is, the feelings it stirs up in me can differ
from day to day. On one listen, it can make me depressed as hell;
the next listen, as little as an hour later, it can put a smile on
my face.
In a sense, this is Madison’s goal, though I don’t believe he
intended on sending the listener (especially this listener) on an
emotional roller-coaster. On his website, Madison does say he tries
to use his music to invoke feelings – though I think he means to
show people through his music the beauty of life and the world,
despite all the reports you hear on the news.
That’s really the core of
Autumn Road, the beauty of the world as expressed through
piano (though I did occasionally find myself wishing that the
performances had only been solo piano, and that Madison didn’t rely
as much on electronic instrumentation). It’s there in the light
skipping of “Walking On Air,” or the way the notes seem to float
down on “Dance Of The Leaves”. It’s there in the introspective
moods of “Mediterranean Blue” and “I Remember”. It’s there in the
longing remembrance of times past (and anticipation of times to
come) in “Til The Days Of Summer”.
While Madison has not yet achieved the level of household name a
la Jim Brickman, there is no doubt that he is a talented songwriter
and pianist who, given the chance, could easily reach that goal.
Maybe that’s why Madison eschews the status quo of music promotion
and plays his music in shopping malls. It works, too – it got my
attention that September afternoon. And, frankly, the more people
who know about his work, the better, ’cause
Autumn Road proves he’s deserving of that fame.
Chances are you won’t experience those kinds of mood swings when
you listen to this CD. In fact, chances are you’ll appreciate this
disc merely for the music, which is what I guess I should have been
doing all along. All I know is this: if Madison reads this, and
does give me the chance to review more of his work, I promise it
won’t take over a year for it to go from my hands to the written
word.