Robert Thies & Damjan Krajacic
About Robert Thies
Although internationally renowned as a classical pianist, Robert began improvising and composing at an early age. Raised in a musical family, he learned the rudiments of jazz from his father. Influenced by ECM label’s “European jazz” artists as well as the pioneering sound of the Windham Hill label, Robert has been eager to continue exploring spontaneous and creative music-making. This album proved to be the perfect vehicle to revisit his love and passion for musical conversation that is both heartfelt and honest.
About Damjan Krajacic
A musician of eclectic styles, Damjan’s background spans Jazz and Latin Jazz with a touch of his own central European heritage and Classical training. From an early age on, he was drawn to Latin music, partially due to his father—a classical guitarist with a love for Spanish guitar music—but he never lost touch with the great Classical tradition of flute playing, either. Damjan’s flexibility and ease with many styles is demonstrated on his debut album “In Retrospect”, where he displays masterful Latin Jazz improvisations and exciting grooves. On “Difference”, his playing is more personal, and dynamic, reflecting a more intimate aspect of the flute and its nuances.
Their Musical Partnership
The musical partnership of pianist Robert Thies and flutist Damjan Krajacic did not follow an obvious musical path, but was borne out of friendship and a desire to find common musical ground and expression. Robert Thies, an active concert pianist by day, has always longed to explore a musical outlet which involved spontaneous creative expression. Damjan, born in Croatia, is a musician of eclectic styles whose background spans jazz, Latin jazz, and classical training, with additional strong ties to the folk music of Eastern Europe; he has a discography of six albums as composer and leader aside from the Blue Landscapes collection.
Blue Landscapes III: Frontiers
Their first meeting of musical minds came together for Damjan’s crossover album of compositions for a 2006 album, Difference. Over the coming years, Damjan and Robert continued to improvise together and eventually found a common ground, music rooted in genuine and natural expressivity. Damjan explains: “I have always felt a deep connection to lyrical expression, regardless of musical genre – an urge to express emotion from within that simultaneously feels as if it is connected to all else.”
Eventually, the duo came to the realization that they should document some of these sessions. Robert tells us: “When we got together to record, we had nothing composed, no agenda in mind, no preconceived objectives or constraints. The music, therefore, came from a place of honest and open expression, and we did not concern ourselves with how people might react. The emotion behind the music is a direct response to life experiences, some of which inevitably would be more melancholy than others. It wasn’t until we finished recording for five days that we discovered a common thread to much of this music and an album eventually emerged.”
Blue Landscapes
The ambience created by the music has been described as rich, introspective, subdued, wistful, peaceful, and inspirational. Aptly subtitled Music from a Quieter Place, Blue Landscapes is music to quiet the mind and nurture the soul. It is deeply meditative and evokes beautiful natural landscapes where one can experience inner peace and tranquility. The music is gentle and reflective with splashes of vivid colors over a transparent musical veil. Melodies rise from the moods that the musical backdrop inspires, allowing active listeners to fill in the musical spaces with their imagination, while others may be swept up by the undulating grooves or find themselves in a contemplative and peaceful mood.
The acoustic nature of the music gives it an earthly and human quality. Listeners are often surprised to learn that all percussive sounds and colors in the music were created either on the flute or piano. Elaborating on this creative choice, the duo says “The music of Blue Landscapes is inspired and grounded by our love for Earth’s beauty and all of her natural wonders. It is important to us that the music sounds and feels natural, and so we have avoided the use of electronics. The improvisatory and delicate nature of these albums is the perfect vehicle for such honest and natural expression, void of stylistic expectations or the need to impress.”
Music writer Dyan Garris (New Age CDs) described the duo’s second album together as “…without question the best New Age album I’ve heard this year. Thoughtful, moving, healing, graceful, elegant, beautiful, provocative…profoundly compelling improvised musical conversation,” while her fellow music reviewer Bill Binkelman (Wind & Wire) opined, “Each time it reveals something new to me, always something enjoyable. It’s one of the best albums I’ve heard in the last year, and quite possibly the last few years. While this is obviously improvisational, like all great improvisations, the music has a distinct organic aspect. The music on the album is serene, contemplative, occasionally haunting. You will want to return to these ’landscapes’ time and time again, always hearing something new, a wrinkle previously undetected.”
The Blue Landscapes series captured the attention of Real Music, and Blue Landscapes III: Frontiers was released by the label on January 24, 2020.
Eager to share the music with a wider audience, Damjan and Robert have presented concerts in the greater Los Angeles area in venues like the Theatricum Botanicum in Topanga and the Boston Court in Pasadena. Future performances are being planned for Los Angeles and venues overseas in Croatia, Slovenia, and England.
Blue Landscapes III: Frontiers
Global Music Awards 2019 Silver Award Winner
LISTEN AND BUY: http://www.bluelandscapesmusic.com/music
Artist Website:
http://www.bluelandscapesmusic.com/
Broadcast Promotion: Max Horowitz, Crossover Media, [email protected]
Publicity: Beth Hilton, The B Company, [email protected]
Real Music: Michael Whalen, [email protected]
Streaming and Purchasing: https://fanlink.to/BLIII-Frontiers
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/0xTXEf18BW9CQ5VxZjVj6e
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bluelandscapesmusic
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bluelandscapesmusic/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/bluelandscapes
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/bluelandscapes
Video: Artist Interview – https://youtu.be/297Ozj8CeKY
Video: “Forest Path” – https://youtu.be/h_j9DqWxipo
