Artist : Frank van Bogaert Album : Closer Source : CD Year : 2004 Genre : New Age Label : Groove Unlimited

Codec : lame 3.92 Quality : VBR, average 253kbps, stereo

ID3-Tag : Yes, Version 1 & 2.3

Included : This Info-File (NFO) Frontcover Backcover

Tracklisting

01 - Closer 02 - Coming Up For Air 03 - Rorogwela 04 - High Above 05 - Melting 06 - A Picture of You 07 - Closer (Reprise) 08 - Caleidoscope 09 - Europe's Dawn 10 - Good Morning Song 11 - Dans 12 - Falling Leaves 13 - Sweetness 14 - Night Brings Silence

Playing Time : 64:05 Total Size : 116 MB

Belgian keyboard player Frank van Bogaert is amongst those musicians who have the ability to make music of great warmth and depth with synthesizers and samplers. Next to this, he is an excellent composer. He is very well at home in all sorts of music: from pop, via world to orchestral and symphonic. On many times, he is regarded the new Vangelis.

On his fifth album ?Closer? Frank again creates a showcase that ranges from light and easy accessible to monumental pieces of great beauty. Just take ?Coming Up From Air?. This track could easily be used as film music. Frank?s diversity is clear in ?Rorogwela? where he uses a traditional melody originally from the Solomon Islands, also used by Deep Forest (one of Frank?s sources of inspiration) and Jan Garbarek.

Big symphonic tunes can be heard in pieces like ?Melting?, ?Europe?s Dawn?, the fantastic ?Dans (da:ns)? and ?Sweetness?. Sometimes he also just sits down an (acoustic or electric) piano, plays softly and dresses this up with synths. ? A Picture Of You? and ?Falling Leaves? are fine examples of this. At other times, he lets the rhythm do the job, not forgetting the melody (?Closer? , ?Caleidoscope?).

With ?Closer?, Frank adds another highlight to his growing number of masterpieces. If you have heard one of them you want them all!

(c) 2004 Press Information

============================================ Closer is Frank Van Bogaert?s 5th release and another gem in a series of releases that began back in 1998 with Colours. This CD really sparkles as Frank shows off his keyboard skills and his ability to create great grooves with depth and feeling. The music on this CD is a mixed bag and moves easily from the up tempo tracks that bounce to atmospheric tracks that offer the listener a relaxing place to hang out and drift away. Frank manages to do this without having jagged cuts from one style to another which allows the listener to move smoothly through the entire CD. There are quite a number of tracks on this release with 14 songs that run for 64?17? which gives the listener a rather nice variety of music to choose from all in one package. Some highlights that should provide listeners with more than enough reason to pick up this CD include the title track Closer that comes out with a snyth beat that drives the song forward and some keyboards that give it a down to earth feel at the same time.

Having been a fan of Deep Forest?s 1st CD, it was interesting to see Frank?s interpretation of Sweet Lullaby here on his CD. This is an excellent effort by Frank to mark this melody with his own style and make the song memorable again. Very recognizable as the melody that sticks in your head after you have heard it a few times but also very much a product of Frank Van Bogaert?s skillful rendering of the song in his own style.

Another favorite song from this package is called Dans which is track 11. This is a beat heavy track with some very deep bass lines and a creative use of voices to add to the overall feeling of the song. One of my quiet favorites is Falling Leaves a delicate song that evokes the feeling of fall or winter with a sparse use of instrumentation and where the keyboard in the form of a piano takes center stage. It reminds one of the great piano music that used to come out of Windham Hill and Narada with the likes of David Lanz. While the song is rather short at 3:21 it is definitely a spotlight on Frank?s more than capable abilities as a keyboard player.

All in all this is a well balanced set of songs that is both accessible and entertaining. Frank sounds as if he is having a fun time exploring a variety of musical styles and we the listeners have the benefit of tagging along for the ride. Definitely some smooth grooves that would fit quite nicely into a jazz setting ala Caleidoscope where Frank De Ruytter offers us some tasty sax licks. Frank Van Bogaert also offers up some great beats as well as some thoughtful and reflective tunes as well. A great set that would be welcome in most anyone?s music collection. Recommended.

Reviewed by Michael Foster (Jan 2005)