New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Timothy Wenzel, who has become a leading new age keyboardist over the past few years, uses his music to explore major concepts about our planet and then relates them as analogies that pertain to our daily lives. His new album, Summon the Wind, takes one of earth's most pervasive natural forces -- wind -- as its encompassing theme.
"How humankind relates to wind is symbolic to life itself," says Wenzel. "We have no absolute control over wind. It comes and goes as it pleases, and there is little we can do when we face tornados and hurricanes. But we have learned to use wind starting thousands of years ago with sailing vessels and kite-flying, then on to windmills for pumping water or making electricity, and flying machines that create their own air currents. Throughout history there has always been men with a mystical wish to control wind, perhaps with sorcery, to 'Summon The Wind' or 'Still the Wind,' and those elusive concepts became the titles of the first and last compositions on the CD, and the over-riding theme of the album."
Wenzel explains further that the idea of wind also is a part of our lives on a symbolic and metaphorical level. "We speak of the wind of change, or politically a new wind is blowing, or new ideas blew in. Life is all about dealing with social wind as well as wind-storms. On a personal level, sometimes it feels like our minds, our lives, are a whirlwind, and we need to still that wind by stilling our mind, either through meditation or listening to gentle music."
The big themes on Wenzel's albums often become re-occurring sub-themes on later recordings. On his first album, Mountains Take Wing, he explored earth and nature. The next CD, A Coalescence of Dreams, centered on dreams and our personal journey. With River Serene, Wenzel used a flowing river as an analogy for life. But music about love, light, water and our planet resurface again and again.
Now on the latest recording, Summon the Wind, Wenzel not only delves into the wind metaphor (with tunes such as the frenetic "
Whirlwind"), but he also continues to produce love songs ("Peace to My Lady," "All That Might Have Been"). Earth and rocks reappear with the tune "Crystal Man," inspired by poor workers in Africa digging for diamonds. Wenzel, a longtime scientist, has a love for exploring the unknown which is shown on the compositions "Tesla's Dream" (an ode to electrical engineer and inventor Nikola Tesla), "Edge of the World" (a tribute to early sailors who journeyed beyond known waters, and any scientific research pushing past what is already proven), and "Mariner's Lament" (a prayer for all those lost at sea over the years, and acknowledging the part that wind and water played in global exploration).
"While it is interesting to ponder the big themes of life," states Wenzel, "part of being human is the relationships that make up our lives, and the choices we make along the way on a day-to-day level. What inspired the piece 'All That Might Have Been' was simply the thought: What if you had smiled back at that beautiful girl so many years ago and said hello? Would it have appreciably changed your life? Another example is the tune 'The Photograph.' Finding an old photograph of a former lover can bring with it a rush of unbidden memories and whisk you back in time. Even though I have written many pieces of music about dreaming, this time I penned one called 'Awaken' because I wanted to say, 'Come out of your slumber, embrace the world, see what the day brings and enjoy the beauty around us'. I also feel life needs a little magic and mysticism so I included the tune 'Elven Dance' which is a tip of the hat to Tolkien-like elves."
Musically Wenzel places the most emphasis on piano, which he has played all his life, but he also is a master synthesist and augments the piano parts with a wide variety of instrumental sounds including violin, cello, flute, harp, guitars, bass, drums and percussion as well as bells, and the wordless vocalizing of men's and women's choirs. He is joined on this CD by two special guest musicians -- electric guitarist Michael Rud from Denmark (on "The Photograph"), and drummer Lenny Levash from Nevada, USA (on "Tesla's Dream"). Wenzel's music has great appeal in the new age genre, especially because of the haunting melodies and dreamy arrangements that create a sense of peacefulness and relaxation. Some of his music has Celtic influences evident. There also is a visual element within Wenzel's music which is often inspired by dreams, films, stories and nature scenery. In addition, he usually creates or seeks out for each tune an appropriate piece of artwork which he makes available for viewing on his website.
All four of his CDs and digital download tracks from those recordings are available at online sales sites such as CDbaby, Amazon, iTunes, eMusic, Rhapsody and many others. His albums regularly receive airplay on hundreds of radio stations and channels around the world, and always race into the Top 10 on the international Zone
Music Reporter Top 100 monthly airplay chart.
Wenzel spent his childhood in South Haven, Michigan, where he was born and raised. As a boy he divided his time between being outdoors enjoying nature, but also inside playing the piano. "There was always a piano in our house. It was built by my grandfather who worked in a piano factory." Tim's mother played piano and encouraged him to play. He started plunking on the keys when he was three, and two years later was taking lessons. "I remember I did a recital when I was six," Timothy says, "and the unusual thing was that they let me do an original piece that I came up with. My entire life I have not been able to walk by a piano and not sit down and play."
Wenzel says, "I was deeply into classical music at first, but later I started being influenced by rock'n'roll and what I heard on the radio." Initially Wenzel enjoyed Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones, Jethro Tull and the Moody Blues, and later U2. As he got older he began to appreciate new age music ("George Winston and the whole rosters of the Windham Hill and Narada labels"). His next journey was female singers that incorporated some Celtic sounds -- Loreena McKennitt, Clannad, Enya and Sara McLachlan. In recent years Wenzel also has begun working with female singers from around the world (he contributes music and lyrics).
Music is Wenzel's second fulltime career following an initial career in science. "Music and science have always been my two main passions. I see a correlation between them. Scientific exploration is full of creativity and is very much like writing a song. In both cases you start with an idea and then explore the possibilities of where it can lead."
He earned a BS degree in
Chemistry at the University of Missouri, then his Masters and PhD in Physical Organic
Chemistry at Cornell University. He first served as a post-doctoral researcher in organometallic chemistry at the University of California at Berkeley. This led to a career in research science, first with Union Carbide in West Virginia, and then with Dow Chemical back in Michigan where he still lives. "I primarily worked in making polymers using catalysts -- discrete molecules with a metal atom that does most of the work. Polymers are a chemical compound of repeating structural units. My work was primarily in polyethylene using a new generation of catalysts to make different plastics. The culmination and highlight of my career was when they let me run with a far-out idea I had, and I headed a team that found a way to make two catalysts talk to each other. First one would weave a strand and hand it off, and then the other would weave one, and they created building blocks together. It is a powerful technique to make new types of polymers. It was a major discovery, a home run. Over the years I was issued about 50 U.S. patents."
Regarding the over-arcing theme of his latest recording, Wenzel says, "I have always had a fascination with wind. I am a weather geek and a storm-chaser. I also have a sailboat which I enjoy. When I am out on the water sailing, I really feel the wind and react to it. I am actively engaging with a force of nature. Sometimes it is a battle between me and the wind, and I always wonder who is going to win."
