The Day I Met Myself

by Kevin Keller Ensemble

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Kevin Keller’s latest album is called The Day I Met Myself and of course that title brings to my mind the term walkabout.  This term comes from the Australian Aboriginal and essentially means that a person mentally or physically leaves everything behind and goes on a journey of self-discovery. Or perhaps I should say a journey of rediscovery because sometimes it is more about finding a part of yourself that you had at one point in time and now it is gone. To find that which was lost or left behind as life crowded out the essence of who you are and leaves you as person adrift and searching for meaning. I don’t know if this is what Kevin had in mind with the music on his new album but as I listened to the compositions I could feel the emotions rising to the surface of what a journey like this would entail.

There are 10 songs that comprise The Day I Met Myself and the titles alone seem to indicate to me that they are the story of someone setting out on a similar journey of finding oneself amidst the din of modern life that strikes dissonant chords in most of our minds. It is an effort to quiet that noise and bring back to mind who we really are and then to integrate that essence back into our lives going forward. Compositions like Searching, Remembering, Beckoning, Reluctance, Waiting, and Reverence and then Ascending also bring to mind a spiritual journey as well but I think it will depend more on the listener as to how they will understand these compositions in regards to the emotions that surface while they absorb this music.

The compositions focus on Kevin Keller’s piano and it is his playing that guides the album from beginning to end. Don’t get me wrong the ensemble players are a beautiful addition to each of these songs but it is the piano that is the heart and soul of this production and that is as it should be. I love solo piano work as much as the next new age reviewer but sometimes the addition of the strings and the horns such as those that accompany Kevin on this release are like the seasonings to a great dish of food. It is the herbs and spices bring out the subtle nuances that would otherwise be missing in the cuisine. It is much the same principle with Kevin’s piano playing and the ensemble that accompanies him. They allow Kevin’s piano to become even more expressive within these compositions and help him to bring out the delicate emotions that lie just below the surface of the music.

The Kevin Keller Ensemble consists of Christa Robinson on English Horn/Oboe, Courtney Orlando on violin, John Pickford Richards on viola, Clarice Jensen on cello and Kevin Keller on piano/celesta. The album opens with a song called Innocence that is rich in emotion and begins the journey of discovery at a point just prior to setting out while all is just as it has always been. The song is a reflective piece that is soothing and yet points to the journey that is being contemplated. There is a wonderful interplay between the horns, the cello and Kevin’s piano playing that gives the listener a good preview of where this album is going to take them before it finishes. Kevin’s piano offers the canvas upon which the sonic picture is painted and the horn and cello masterfully step forward and delicately draw on this canvas with their own perspectives of the journey that lies ahead. Producer Russel Walder strikes a perfect balance on this project so that everything speaks to the main theme and emphasizes the direction that the album is headed.

Unfolding is the second song on the album and is one of my favorite tracks as I listened the first time through. I think I like it so much not only because of what the song represents in terms of the journey but also because of how much the music captures that spirit of opening up and seeing new things within your life that you might not have been paying all that much attention to as of late. The music captures a sense of excitement and of mystery. The music is imaginative and inspired as it floats and dances around the listener. The instruments play off one another, echoing the melody from one instrument to the next but always in harmony and always as one voice. Unfolding is perhaps the lightest of the compositions on this album in terms of mood but I think that it fits in marvelously in terms of where it is situated and what it represents to the rest of the songs moving forward.

The music on The Day I Met Myself is for the most part reflective and covers a broad range of emotions that someone might feel as they opened their hearts and minds to understand the hidden aspects of who they really are. This is not a journey to undertake lightly and I think that the music aptly reflects that in the compositions that make up the soundtrack to this enlightening journey. The Ensemble shows that they have a cohesive artistic vision when it comes to the music that they create together and this album also shows that Russel Walder as producer understood exactly where Kevin wanted to take this album. It is an intimate and inviting project and the 10 songs carry the listener along on the tide of discovery and deposits them on the distant shore of understanding feeling a little wiser for the trip they just made. The instruments all reflect the skill that lies behind the artists who caress the music from them and this allows them to create an emotional landscape that touches the listener and makes them reflect on where their own journey is taking them.  

The Day I Met Myself is a great album and a credit to Kevin and the Ensemble as it shows their mastery of their individual musical crafts and it also shows how they have forged an identity as a group moving as one to convey a single emotion or thought through the music. Kudos to Russel Walder as producer for it is apparent that he was able to sculpt this music into something that all involved can be proud of. Ambient Visions does indeed recommend this album.     

Reviewed by Michael Foster, editor Ambient Visions