REVIEW by Carla Maria Verdino-Süllwold (April 29, 2015) Tobin Mueller’s latest double CD, "Flow: The Music of J.S. Bach and Tobin Mueller", may be his most ambitious and sophisticated recording project to date. Continuing the concept he initiated in his "Impressions of Water and Light", where he performed original arrangements, variations, and new compositions based on the works of Ravel, Debussy, and other Impressionist masters, "Flow" uses the protean output of Johann Sebastian Bach as its core inspiration, and lets the Baroque master lead Mueller as a composer and pianist into a journey of re-interpretation and new creation – a journey that inevitably explores the interactions of Baroque and Jazz. In the fifteen tracks of Disc One, Mueller plays his own piano arrangements and interpretations of Bach’s music, discovering in the eighteenth century genius not only the precision and grace of his compositional structures, but also deconstructing these harmonies and melodies in order to penetrate their inner life, and then letting that spark carry him to another place in his own artistic soul. Disc Two features two original suites for piano (and a bonus track piano duet from his 1998 musical "Creature") that are the result, the composer tells us, of spending half a year immersed in Bach’s music and in the study of his piano suites, as well as the Goldberg Variations. Despite the compositorial lessons Bach may have offered Mueller, these two works stand majestically on their own, addressing the listener in an idiom that at once is classic and modern. In listening to Mueller’s interpretations of Bach’s own music, one is struck not only by his skill as a pianist, but by his comprehensive grasp of Bach’s form and structure; for only with such a complete understanding as his foundation, can Mueller dare to embark on his own “takes” on these classics. Highlights of the first disc are many. The rhythmically varied interpretation of Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring, "Joy", which opens the collection, serves as an overture to what follows. "First Starfield", derived from Bach’s Prelude No. 1 in C Major, is a beautiful re-imagining of Bach’s melody using parallel fifths under and over Bach’s line and subtly shifting the downbeat midway through the piece. "In Anna Magdalena’s Hands" is a take on the Prelude of Bach’s Cello Suite #1, which recreates for the piano the lush, romantic chordal line of the unaccompanied cello in the original. "Leopold’s Short Life" (based on Prelude and Fugue # 2 in CMinor) is arranged as a big band piece which evocatively suggests the transience of life and the inexorable ticking of time, while "Sleepers Awake" is set down as a dialogue between right and left hands, between the voice calling the sleeper to consciousness and the Jazz groove of the baseline. "Night at the Theatre" constitutes Mueller’s interpretation of Minuet in G, (a work now commonly ascribed to Christian Petzold, but still associated with Bach through his wife’s notebook) in which he begins in a Broadway idiom and shifts to an eloquent and contemplative kind of soliloquy. Finally, the first CD ends with "Encore and Amen", a virtuoso tribute to what Mueller calls “the energy of an [Bach’s] infinite mind,” before it solemnly concludes in a reverential “amen.” The second disc contains two suites for piano, each in six movements. The first, entitled "Suite: Flow", explores the concept of ebbing and flowing energy mirrored in the rhythms of nature from tidal waters to migrating birds, and salmon swimming upstream. While Bach may have been Mueller’s departure point, there are a great many other influences which can be heard coalescing in the rich musical language of the work, among them the transparent and limpid harmonies of Impressionism. "Flow" begins with a slow first movement, “Tide Pools,” in which the rippling waters and receding eddies are reflected in the elusive chords. “Momentary Undertow” continues in slow tempo using arpeggios to evoke the circular flow and the eventual ascending pull. The third movement, “Yin and Yang,” is a light textured synthesis of two styles of playing, juxtaposing and integrating chords and arpeggios. “Salmon Ladder Variations” offers a marriage of Thelonius Monk and J.S. Bach in which short repeating figures suggest the fish ascending the ladder and slipping back, yet never abandoning their intense drive to procreate. “Birds in Migration,” the fifth movement which blends Charlie Parker with Blues and Bop improvisation, depicts the bold flight of the birds as an expression of freedom. The suite ends with “Curved Surfaces,” varying the melody of the first movement and using a waltz tempo to reference the dance-like gigues that ended Bach’s French suites. In his "New England Suite", also in six movements, Mueller meditates on the passage of the seasons and the cyclical forces of nature which flow through the universe with musical majesty. “River Ice” with its dark, repetitive chords that color the opening movement with a hint of Native-American roots, evokes the crystalline sparkle of the ice breaking up and reshaping itself. “Ghostly Bells (of Independence)” with its changing keys and tempi recalls the bells that have tolled throughout New England’s history, the varying pitches beautifully captured in the melody with the pure, clarion peeling at the end of the movement an intimation of approaching spring. “Lighthouse” introduces a sense of renewal, its bookended sections in waltz-time, with a middle section reference to Bach’s Well-Tempered Klavier #4. “Train” becomes a metaphor for summer with its allusion to the romance of the road; Mueller’s walking bass in the left hand signifies the continuum, while his right punctuates that with the sound of a train whistle and the suggestion of stops along the way. Movement five, “Nor’easter” conjures up the gently pelting rain on windowpanes and roofs in early autumn with a delicate, lulling quietude before seguing into the final movement, “Berkshire Shadows,” that pulsates with a gentle maturity and restful vigor. There is just a whiff of Ives here, as there is in the first movement, as well as the lush resonance of a description of the “season of mists and mellow fruitfulness” in John Keats’ “Ode to Autumn” before the suite ends on a gentle upward progression that is as much question as statement. In addition to the pleasures of these imaginative interpretations and compositions, Mueller offers the listener a memorable acoustic experience and an attractively packaged visual one. The sound is rounded, subtle, intimate, and captures all the nuances of the artist in conversation with his piano and with his inspirations. The two CDs (with a generous 121 minutes of music) are accompanied by an informative sixteen-page booklet, handsomely illustrated with artwork. Mueller, who is an accomplished writer as well as musician, offers well-articulated insights into the pieces and invites the listener to embark with him on an exciting voyage. "Flow" takes the listener on a complex and profound journey. On one level, these are works which require thought and comprehension - a knowledge of the Bach’s originals - but on another level, they exist in their own unique realm to be heard, absorbed, and experienced in the flow of the moment. And that intangibility, that ephemerality is precisely their genius. Mueller’s compositions are firmly grounded in an impressive musical technique and far-reaching understanding of past idioms, at the same time that they are bold, sometimes playful, often rebellious excursions into uncharted territory. The gift that "Flow" bestows on the listener is the insight into the dialectical truth that from form comes freedom. -Carla Maria Verdino-Süllwold ----------------------------------- ABBREVIATED LINER NOTES: FLOW is an exploration of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach and how his music affects my own playing and compositions. Just as Mueller did with Claude Debussy and other Impressionists in "Impressions of Water & Light," Mueller transforms these Baroque masterpieces with his unique arrangements. With this album, however, he does more, adding a second disc of his own original music, showing the influence Bach has had on his own compositional style. Disc One (tracks 1-15) features Jazz-influenced interpretations of well-known Bach pieces.Disc Two (tracks 16-28) includes two original suites for piano written after working through the Bach repertoire. FLOW is one part homage and one part internal romance. New Age, Neo-Classical, Modal Jazz, Impressionism, Musical Theatre and Baroque all combined during the evolutionary process of arranging and recording. Fall in love again with the music of Bach as you enjoy these new perspectives. Flow, as a psychological concept, is the mental state of operation in which a person performing an activity is fully immersed in a feeling of energized focus and enjoyment. In essence, flow is characterized by complete absorption in what one does. There is a constant forward motion to Bach's music, a sense of infinity in each detailed variation and fugue, as if every note is precious and no amount of improvisation will ever exhaust the possibilities his motifs can generate. If there is music that serves as a metaphor for the ecstacy of flow, it is Bach's. Mueller embraces the sense of timelessness one achieves when in the state of flow, bridging the centuries and letting Bach's 300 year old manuscripts inspire through new expression and joy at the piano. There is a marvelous tradition of reinterpreting Bach: from the orchestral transcriptions of Esa-Pekka Salonen to Wendy Carlos' electronically enhanced Switched On Bach; from the a cappella vocals of the Swingle Singers to the throaty saxophone of Yasuaki Shimizu; from Jethro Tull's progressive rock flute Bourée to Jacques Loussier's consumate jazz piano combo, Bach to Bach Trio. There are many, many fabulous musicians who have reimagined Bach's music (Oscar Peterson, Dave Brubeck E. Power Biggs). Like them, Mueller pays tribute to Bach's magnificent legacy as he displays his enduring power of inspiration. NOTE: The CD Package includes a 16-page booklet with extensive liner notes and marvelous artwork. The special CDBaby price of $16.85 for the physical CD reflects Bach's year of birth.