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December,2003
Reviewed by Holiday
Genre: World Fusion/Jazz/New Age
Writing instrumental music is no easy task. In music with lyrics the songwriter has the chance to have the
listener relate to the music in an obvious way, either by shared experience or emotion, etc., and thus to
catch the attention of the listener. But when you take away the lyrics you take away the obvious meaning
of the art. Its like abstract art, the artist must convey some emotion through the art and hope that it
affects the person seeing the art in some way. Instrumental music is much the same as abstract art, except
the artist in this case not only has to create one piece that can reach a listener without the obviousness
of shared experience, they have to create an entire record.
Bill Cornish, in his latest effort, Horizons, offers 14 tracks of instrumental music with influences
from new age/world music, to soul, to jazz. The variety of genres does well in keeping the record interesting.
Each song has its own flavor and each song does a good job of inspiring a feeling or ambience, yet the
record doesn’t feel disjointed. There is a commonality between all of the songs that makes the record
cohesive and adds to the strength of the entire piece. The highlight of the record is the beautiful solo
piano melody of “Solstice”, which stands out amongst the other well produced tracks as more minimalist,
thus making it feel more honest and creating that feeling of inspiration that is lost in many instrumental
songs.
Cornish is obviously very talented. As a career musician he knows his stuff and you get a good feel for
his variety of talents on Horizons. As said above, the record is well produced, but not overproduced.
Some musicians of Cornish’s caliber sometimes feel the need to completely show off their musical abilities
and end up giving us 20 minute long super jams that bore all but the most devoted fans. But Cornish saves
the super jams for the live shows and only puts the music that is necessary into each song. This is a good
sign of musical maturity, which in conjunction with musical ability is necessary to create a holistic
musician.
The rub in Horizons is two fold though. First of all, the record is fourteen tracks long. Although
Cornish puts up a good effort to keep the listeners interest, with fourteen tracks for all instrumental,
eventually he succumbs and some of the tale end of the record begins to feel tired, even though the songs
themselves are good. Secondly, it is apparent that most of the record was done through the use of computers a
nd keyboard sounds. While this is the least expensive route to take, the manufactured sound detracts from the
real life feeling that is usually necessary in an instrumental record (unless you’re going for that
manufactured sound). It tends to make the songs sound more cold than they ought.
However, this is a good addition to the catalog of an already moderately successful musician. Any fan
of new jazz should give Horizons a listen. And, if Cornish ever decides to play live shows with
this project, the show would probably greatly complement these songs and be very entertaining.
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