Clouds and Silver Linings Michael Schlierf

• 1 Onto the Journey 04:24
• 2 When Summer's Finally Over 04:09
• 3 Last Peace of the Picture 03:39
• 4 Circling of the Question Lark 04:11
• 5 The Wisdom of the Children 03:25
• 6 Hickory (The Southern Caress) 03:42
• 7 unendlich sanft in seinen Händen (Rilke's Tune) 04:10
• 8 Ninefold Nightfall (The Fir Wood) 04:47
• 9 Reflections on a Quiet Lake 04:59
• 10 Comfort in Calm 04:00
• 11 Breezin' with George 04:25
• 12 One Hand in Melody 04:19
• 13 I Saw Roses for the First Time 04:03
• 14 Going Back Home 03:52
• 15 Vom Beten - das Vaterunser / Lord 's Prayer 02:42
• Total Runtime 01:00:47

Info for Clouds and Silver Linings

Michael Schlierf lets his music do the talking. That’s impressive enough. This man doesn’t need any tricks. One being able to let the ebony and ivory of the piano express his emotions in such a compelling way is evidently guided by a power whose presence is evident in the music – a language which begins where normal language ends.

A Wonderful Jazz Piano Album with 14 of Michael Schlierf's pieces arranged for several instruments!

Michael Schlierf started playing piano at the age of 5. Beginning with a classical education he later decided to learn jazz piano. Since 1985 he studied jazz and popular music at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Stuttgart.

As an enthusiastic aficionado of instrumental music - Michael Schlierf lets the music do the talking. This can be felt in the music of his compositions - that language that begins where words start to fail. Stockfisch-Records releases a wonderful SACD album with 14 of his pieces arranged for several instruments: besides the piano you'll hear string quartet, oboe, cor Anglais, flute, clarinet and harp plus saxophone, guitar, dobro, bass and drums.

"Michael Schlierf‘s first album for Stockfisch is called Clouds and Silver Linings. It’s the music itself that makes that idiom’s double meaning transparent. On one level it deals with clouds and light, broad daylight and the dark at nightfall – nature around us and at the core of our being.

Nature whose acts artists of all times have seen as a mirror and a symbol of inner life. This is not different in this music depicting an emotional journey from its outset and the passage through darkness to the happy ending in the light.

Change is not something Michael Schlierf exactly has to look for. As a pianist who on one day plays with Johannes Heesters and another day plays at the Olympics, he is more likely to find change when at home with his family . That’s exactly what this artist does. His family, his home in Southern Germany from which he sets out for concert tours and his Christian faith are the things that give him energy.

Michael Schlierf lets his music do the talking. That’s impressive enough. This man doesn’t need any tricks. One being able to let the ebony and ivory of the piano express his emotions in such a compelling way is evidently guided by a power whose presence is evident in the music – a language which begins where normal language ends."

Michael Schlierf, grand piano
Klaus Graf, soprano saxophone, clarinet, flute, alto flute
Viorel Bindila, oboe, cor anglais
Wojtek Bolimowski, violin
Madalina Bobocel, violin
Oksana Labach, viola
Lucile Chaubard, violoncello
Natalja Girunjan, concert harp
Michael Koschorrek, guitars, dobro
Ralf Gustke, drums, percussion
Decebal Badila, double bass, fretless bass
Heinz Rühmann, reading (Lesung)

Michael Schlierf
spielt seit seinem fünften Lebensjahr Klavier. Er begann zunächst eine klassische Ausbildung, entschied sich später dann aber für eine Ausbildung als Jazzpianist.

Ab 1985 studierte er Jazz und Popularmusik an der Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Stuttgart. Michael Schlierf ist ein schöpferischer Vollblut- und vielfältig ausgebildeter, freiberuflicher Vollzeitmusiker und vereint dabei sein absolutes Gehör mit außergewöhnlicher Kreativität. So entstehen wunderbare Klangwelten durch immer neue musikalische Bilder, welche die Zuhörer inspirieren und begeistern: wohltuende, meditative Harmonien neben mitreißenden Grooves – von der Ballade bis zur Jazzimprovisation.

Booklet for Clouds and Silver Linings