Reviewed by Anthony Longville

This is the debut release of Britain's Kershaw, who describes himself as a "contemporary classical composer, with an interest in music for reflection, relaxation, or meditation." The only slightly odd thing about this collection is that the artist name is shown as Austin Kershaw - Piano! It is only too obvious from listening to this 2 CD set that Kershaw is a pianist and a very accomplished one at that! This is an entirely solo project. It is all very well played and the first disc encourages the listener to be still and experience calmness and to look for God in difficult times. It is soothing, but a whole album of solo musicianship can often be a challenge for the music not to have a sameness, and to produce a double CD of this kind of music, of over 1 hour 40 minutes in length, does seem to be extraordinarily ambitious, as simple musical phrases are repeated especially on the first disc. This style certainly lends itself to use in meditational worship, as well as for individual worship. On the second disc Kershaw aims for a different approach which he describes as a "brighter set of pieces, structured more like songs" sharing "common themes of praise and rejoicing." This is music which clearly means a lot to the artist himself, and that I trust will bring to many the calmness in the storm that he seeks to bring.

The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily those held by Cross Rhythms. Any expressed views were accurate at the time of publishing but may or may not reflect the views of the individuals concerned at a later date.

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