Also during this time, Throughout the Autumn Light and Whisperings at Nightfall were added to the music library of The C.A.R.E. By the beginning of 2012, the CD had been nominated for Best Instrumental Acoustic Album by radio broadcasters reporting to Zone Music Reporter. In March and April of 2011, Throughout the Autumn Light reached number two on the Zone Music Reporter Top 100 Radio Airply charts. Mixed, mastered and co-produced (with the artist) by the highly regarded studio engineer and overall sonic wizard Corin Nelsen, the album features a stellar cast of guest artists: Stephen Katz (cello), Jeff Oster (flugelhorn), Tracy Silverman (violin), Jill Haley (English Horn) and Jeff Pearce (EBow guitar). In February of 2011, Robert released Throughout the Autumn Light. After the release of Whisperings at Nightfall, Robert took time away from recording his music to write musicfor the library of Harpo Productions. Agreeing to produce Robert's next CD, Whisperings at Nightfall, Ackerman added other instruments to Robert's sublime guitar compositions, calling on the members of a crew of accompanists who have since been featured on many excellent recordings from Imaginary Road. It was while promoting Within the Outline that Robert first connected with noted guitarist and founder of the ground-breaking label Windham Hill, Will Ackerman, (currently the hottest producer in contemporary instrumental music via his Imaginary Road Studios). By 2005, Robert had released his second CD Within the Outline. If you love solo piano and you love Christmas music, this is a match made in heaven - or, in this case, Haven! I give "Christmas Whisperings" my highest recommendation.Robert's first recordings can be found on his 2001 demo, which featured (among others) the songs "Scent of Rain," "Mountain Mist," and "Autumn Moon." These tracks would later be re-recorded and released on his CD Pale Shades. I also want to mention the gorgeous album artwork by Matt Strieby of New Leaf Design - another masterpiece, Matt! There are several pieces that are more joyous and lively, but they provide a vibrant contrast to the quieter songs without disturbing the tranquil mood. The overall mood of the album is warm, reflective, and very peaceful. There isn't a weak track on this whole album, so it doesn't seem fair to mention a few of the songs but not the others. The album flows seamlessly and the sound quality is superb, so it's a job beautifully done and certain to be a holiday favorite for many years to come! These tracks were recorded over the past couple of years when various pianists were visiting Piano Haven to record or to perform (or both), so I'm sure choosing the best of the selections for this album was a daunting task. Joe Bongiorno and Joe Yamada produced the album for their SoloPianoChristmas site (a "sister" site to Whisperings), which features Christmas music year-round. Despite the fact that there are so many different artists, that they are all playing the same piano gives the sound a consistency that would be missing if all of the pianos were different. Ten of the tracks are new recordings of pieces that were originally recorded in other studios, so even if you have Christmas albums by many of these artists, the recordings might not be the same. All of the tracks were recorded at Joe Bongiorno's Piano Haven Studio on his wonderful Kawai RX-7 grand piano and Bongiorno also did the engineering and mastering. Description "Christmas Whisperings" is a collection of sixteen Christmas favorites arranged for solo piano and performed by sixteen pianists from the Whisperings Solo Piano Radio group.
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