Published on Sep 16, 2023
A long running Dusseldorf, Germany born outfit, Grandbrothers, the inimitable duo of German-Turkish pianist Erol Sarp and Swiss engineer/software designer Lukas Vogel, return with their 4th album, which consists of works they prepared for a very prestigious concert at the Cologne Cathedral in the summer of 2022.
“Daybreak” starts the listen with a very warm, mysterious and hazy display of graceful, poetic playing alongside the waves of synth that are very cinematic in scope. “Infinite” then follows with mesmerizing and dancing keys amid the dreamy backdrop of colorful sound manipulation.
Further along, the swirling and busy textures of “Golden Dust” carry both beauty and darkness in the hypnotic swells, while the firm piano progressions of “North/South” welcome percussive sounds and an infectious beat that allows the album highlight to build into a very rich, creative, sonic landscape.
Deeper still, “Bloom” illustrates an intimate familiarity with electronic gestures as the melodic and lifting piano prowess makes an emotive presence, and “Boy In The Storm” exits with an initial minimal quality of repetitiveness that segues into firm and sparkling bouts of ebullient songcraft.
It’s important to note that this is not a live record, although those who were in attendance to hear these compositions that use ambience, electronica and minimalistic ideas in very innovative and exciting ways were certainly very fortunate.
Other help for the project came from the sound engineer Francesco Donadello and mixer Paul Corley, who help make some sense of the fact that every sound present stems from the grand piano. Sure, additional software and gear is utilized to enhance the experience, but at its core this is a piano duo of the most unconventional type that benefits from Sarp’s jazz training and Vogel’s synth expertise.