World Music Album Reviews

I Am : Thilo Martinho

Thilo-Martinho's introduction started months before his birth - his mother was a well-known German concert-singer and so Thilo heard music throughout her pregnancy.

At the age of 7 he started playing piano, at 14 he added bass and later on, drums. When he was 19 years old, a friend gave him a guitar and three years later he gave his first concerts as a guitarist.

Initially playing folk-rock on a steel stringed guitar, he became dissatisfied with this type of music until in 1985 at a Paco de Lucia concert Thilo found his musical calling and changed to nylon stringed guitar and began learning the music of Flamenco, eventually moving to Spain to further his training.

Now living in Germany again, Thilo's debut album I Am is a homage to his love Spanish music while showing respect to his own history by the addition of several original German songs in Spanish style.

Featuring a range of Bossa-Nova songs and tunes, I Am is like a Summer Breeze wafting through the windows - there is a light and airy feeling to the music that makes you want to sway in time while sipping Pina Colada's.

I am the wind
within your hair,
I touch your skin,
I'm in the air.
I'll never leave you,
I'm always beneath you,
Your shadow-foil
Upon the soil.
(I Am by Thilo Martinho)

The album is very professional sounding without coming across as processed - the instrumental lines all fit together nicely and the Bossa-Nova riffs all weave through each other - descending piano lines followed upward lifting flute or sax.

Worth listening to at any time, Thilo Martinho's I Am would certainly be an excellent accompaniment to your next soiree or cocktail party!

> Find out more about Thilo Martinho and his music at his MySpace page