RALPH DiEKEMPER

NOT A REVIEW !!

Feature article in the Prelude Section / May Issue of JAZZIZ Magazine...

"Keyboardist Ralph Diekemper is one of those musicians you've likely heard, even though you don't know it.

The Waterloo, Illinois native moved to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, two decades ago and gradually built up his home studio. Recording and mixing at home, then mastering his instrumental jazz recordings with a local friend, Diekemper was doing what many independents do: burning CDs, selling them regionally, and sending unsolicited copies to radio stations at his own expense.

"A funny thing happened, though," Diekemper says. " My daughter Danielle remarked that my music sounded like the Local Forecast segment on The Weather Channel, and the proverbial light bulb went off. They were playing Miles Davis, Weather Report, Pat Metheny and Chick Corea. So I called, talked with the producer, sent the album out, and within a month or so made the playlist in December of 2000."

Both of Diekemper's CDs-his self-titled debut and 2002's IT'S ONLY TIME-are in The Weather Channel rotation, and his band RED ( with bassist Ed Jerome Carr and percussionist Dennis Alston ) plays festivals, hotels, and clubs along the northern East Coast.

"There's a really good chance BBC Radio is going to add IT'S ONLY TIME to their playlist," Diekemper says. "I know there's a ton of great players who have trail-blazed the way people listen and appreciate what could be done musically, if you follow your heart and whether people like it or not, that's what I'm doing."
www.radpiano.com - Bill Meredith

If 'Instrumental' sounds like a cop out description, blame Ralph Diekemper for giving us more than one kind of music here. In his own words 'To me there are two main sections of this CD, and they're defined quite simply "acoustic or not acoustic piano." Most know me as a piano guy, mostly in a solo way. After my first project I was invariably asked "where's the piano?" So I really made a concerted effort to gain access to a really great sounding, well miked piano.'

So what you're getting is an hour of

It's Only Time
The Abundance
Free Flight
A Daughter's Love ( Danielle )
The Traveler
The Leaf ( part 2 )
The Joy of Life
At Night

The opening / title track is a cool jazz tune written for the night. Piano is always the main instrument, but this time it's a keyboard piece, with fun rhythms and various mock instruments ( sax ) guesting for a moment of glory. Luckily he never Really tries to replicate realistic sounds which is where CHEESE comes in on other albums.

Traditionalists will be most pleased with Ralph's piano cuts, like the 8.5 minute 'The Abundance' in which he weaves an almost classical music silence and beauty to his to his playing, and then it becomes something more, something electronic. This is a tune that grows up eventually and would work just as well in the concert hall as it would on a suspenseful scene of a horror movie when someone has to check out the barn.

Like George Winston, this is an album of colors and seasons. Summer to Winter. Depending on your preference of weather, you'll like some more than others. Unless you're an all-season music lover. - Ben Ohmart ( Assistant Editor )