EAST WIND


New Age Music.com
Review
February 2009
The Gentle East Wind

East Wind is Timothy Cooper's new album. It has over 30 tracks and is almost an hour long. When it comes to solo piano, I feel that short tracks keep the listener on the edge and it is always interesting and changing. The album starts with the title track. It has a gentle Far East feel, but just a small hint really: the track is only a minute long. Track two is darker and filled with emotions. Some of the following songs share both melody and atmosphere, like Silent Stream and Bird Flight, while other are totally different and unique. The atmosphere changes fast, and at the same time there is this feeling of continuity. And that's true art.
 
In a way it is all about pictures, moments that are passing by. The listener can almost tell by the music that Timothy Cooper is interested in photography and film-making. It is in the movement and shifting focus. The longest track on the album, Dawn of Time, is a massive 4min38sec long. It has that feeling of creation that the title implies, like a drama of epic proportions.

The recording quality is very good. The piano sound is rich and deep, and still the high notes really shines. The mastering, done by Bluehouse Productions, is simply impressive.

East Wind is perfect background music, or relaxation music if you will. Still it is much more than easy listening. The always shifting atmosphere makes it into an interesting listen.

Check out the wonderful video presentation of the album on New-Piano-Age.com. There you'll also find samples. Be sure to check out Cooper's other albums as well.


IMPROVIJAZZNATION Review
March 2009
Timothy Cooper - EAST WIND: 

I first heard & reviewed Timothy's splendid piano works in issue #83 (his LIGHT ON THE WATER CD).  "East Wind" (his second release) chronicles some of his journeys through parts of Asia, and expertly captures some of the same feelings I have had when in those countries.  There are moments, in fact, when his tunes inspire memories for me of particular moments of my 17 years over there, so (in that sense) his CD is like "coming home" (to my home away from home) for me.  There are some tracks where you can hear Oriental influences in the composition, but more often than not the pieces are clearly stories portrayed by a "non-Oriental" traveling through (albeit in a short and concise way).  That comment may not make a lot of sense except for folks who have lived in those cultures, but Timothy will know what I mean, I believe.  Many of the keyboardists I know here in the Great Northwest state that "water" influences their playing, and in my more reflective moments on the piano, I find that to be true also.  Cooper has admirably achieved his goal of portraying the "winds of change" emanating from the Eastern cultures, most likely through absorbing it and using his exquisite playing talents to paint a sonic vision for listeners unafraid to let themselves (also) become absorbed.  A very enjoyable solo piano experience that merits our MOST HIGHLY RECOMMENDED rating!  Get more information at www.new-piano-age.com
 
-- Rotcod Zzaj


The Bookwatch
Book Reviews, Book Lover Resources, Advice for Writers and Publishers
The Library CD Music Shelf, MARCH 2009
East Wind
Timothy Cooper
New Piano Age Music

The second solo piano album by Timothy Cooper, East Wind is a roughly hour-long CD with an exotic Asian influence. A delicate and emotional listening experience, East Wind seeks to embody the essence of China's ancient history, the vibrantly hot forests and jungles of Malaysia, the delicacy classical Eastern poetry, and much more. An ultimately upbeat music bearing a message of hope and inspiration, East Wind is highly recommended. 30 tracks, 58.7 minutes.


Muzik Reviews.com
Review, March 2009
Timothy Cooper
East Wind

“I want to help our global society become more peaceful and harmonious, and one way to do that is to release gentle and positive music into the world,” Timothy Cooper explains. His album, East Wind, is inspired by the Far East and how the winds are blowing new sensibilities, trade, and global power around the world. On this release, he wanted to emulate the songs of Asian winds, swishing through bamboo forests, across green seas, and around the Great Wall.
 
East Wind has thirty tracks, ranging from less than a minute to four and a half minutes long. Each song is meant to rouse up feelings, whether those be of love, serenity, peacefulness, or calm. New Age music is characterized as peaceful music created to provoke inspiration, relaxation, and positive feelings. Not only does Cooper describe his music as such, but it lives up to its description. Some of the pieces were in his mind for a while, and he finally got to develop them into more profound compositions. Others were written while he was at the piano recording this album.
           
Cooper, as an artist, is more than a pianist. He is also a photographer, novelist, and filmmaker. He is a humanitarian in the true sense of the word. His previous album, Light on the Water was inspired by the tragic events of 9/11, and how America put itself back together thereafter. He explains that the album, “is about fresh winds blowing in the East, but it is also about a new worldwide call for action. It is about human liberation and freedom, renewal and resurgence, creating rather than destroying, and protecting our planet.”
           
Each track on the album has a different feel but still manages to collectively make one creatively soothing piece. The end of a song and beginning of the next create the ebb and tide feel of the ocean Cooper was aiming for. Sometimes though, the pause is drawn out and breaks the connection to the music for just a moment too long.
           
You can perceive East Wind as a new age movement to change the world. Alternatively, you can just sit and relax in your living room to it after a long day. Whether it is being played in the background, or being contemplated, this hour-long instrumental album is sure to remind you of the ocean waves and Asian winds. Moreover, while it may not turn you into a peace activist, it will certainly instill tranquility for the time being.
 


CD INSIGHT REVIEW
March 2009
TIMOTHY COOPER
EAST WIND

You may remember pianist Timothy Cooper from his debut album, LIGHT ON THE WATER, which went Top 15 on the international airplay charts for this type of music. Now he is back with his second CD, EAST WIND.

On his first album, Cooper tried to capture the various sounds of water into his solo piano performance. With EAST WIND, he says: “I tried to infuse the sound of an Asian wind into my piano playing – how that mercurial wind sounds blowing through bamboo forests at night, whispering across green seas at dawn, howling over the Great Wall in winter, tangling with the open fires of the Orient to make them burn brighter, and moaning with people’s sorrow and pain.”

His piano playing is just as poetic and his descriptions of what he saw and felt during his travels throughout the Far East. All of the tunes are short (there are 30 of them on one CD), and the music ranges from forceful and powerful to light and delicate.

So take a listen and hear the notes ring and the wind whisper and howl.

Cooper’s music is available at stores as well as online at www.new-piano-age.com, cdbaby.com, amazon.com and iTunes.com among other outlets.


MIDWEST RECORD
Review
February 13, 2009
NEW PIANO AGE MUSIC

TIMOTHY COOPER/East Wind:  Globe-trotting, do-gooding, tree-hugger takes his ears to Asia and comes back with a set of solo piano seeped in Asian elements, like short songs that say what they have to and get out, and experiences that otherwise shape the playing and presentation.  A smart and sensitive cat that can synthesize what’s going on around him into something other than impressionistic noodling, Cooper makes music the left of center and fans of off-beat but solid work will love and understand.  Worth your time if that’s your bag.


Instrumental Pavllion
Review
March 2009
Timothy Cooper - East Wind
"East Wind" (2008) is a collection of short, solo piano pieces by Timothy Cooper. Some of you may remember I posted a few tracks from his previous release "Light On The Water", which was in the top 15 on NAR (New Age Reporter www.newagereporter.com).

Many of the tracks on "East Wind" are very short, most bring no more than two minutes in length! Try to think of them as a Japanese haiku poem, a pen and ink drawing or even a tiny banzai tree, perfect in their sparseness and simplicity. Cooper's travels to the east has obviously inspired and influenced the music on this new recording. According to Cooper, "the music on "East Wind" reflects my belief that there are many wonderful aspects of the Eastern countries that Westerners can enjoy and embrace, especially culture, art, scenery, traditions and history. People are people and despite differences in our cultures, most basic human desires are the same when it comes to food, clothing, shelter, family, love, freedom, wealth and entertainment".

"East Wind" is a great release and I have Timothy Cooper and his representation The Creative Service company to thank for the opportunity to share this music with you. Enjoy!



MainlyPiano.com Review
East Wind
Timothy Cooper
2008 - New Piano Age Music
58.7 minutes

“East Wind” is one of two solo piano CDs released simultaneously by Timothy Cooper (the other is “Light on the Water”). “East Wind” is a fascinating collection of thirty short (from 43 seconds to 3 1/2 minutes) piano pieces that were composed as a tribute to the victims of 9/11 and recorded on a concert grand piano. Open and a bit on the dark (but not brooding) side, this is music caught in the moment of creation by an artist who has been involved in music his whole life. Cooper’s musical career began as a soprano in various boys choirs that recorded albums and toured the US and abroad. As a teenager, he studied sitar until he took up piano as a student at The American Film Institute in Los Angeles. Over the years, Cooper developed his own style of improvisational composition, and finally began recording his music later in 2001. Most of the pieces on “East Wind” are quiet and intimate, with the feeling of vast, deep space. There is nothing harsh or flamboyant about the music, and it works well with full attention or as a backdrop for other activities. From Cooper’s website: "I love the piano's ability to create oceanic sound—a great wash of sustained sound that can seem at once infinite and intimate, with no borders or boundaries--only the presence of being... Sometimes my music has no definable beginnings, no absolute endings: only waves upon waves of sound headed as if for all shores, as in the music of dreams.” Many improvised albums do not hold together well with repeated plays, but this one does, revealing more about the music as well as the composer each time. Most of these musical vignettes have nature themes and their brevity is impressionistic like watercolor paintings or gesture drawings. Many have no distinct beginnings or endings, yet the CD is solid and consistent as a whole entity. Each little piece is distinct and unique, yet each is a part of the mood, expression, and experience of the whole. I highly recommend “East Wind” especially to those who enjoy music that is a bit more experimental and slightly edgy. It is available from www.new-piano-age.com, amazon.com, iTunes, and cdbaby.com.

Kathy Parsons
MainlyPiano.com
6/7/08


EAST WIND
87 Microphones 
New Age Reporter
- reviewed by RJ Lannan on 5/23/2008  
       
I listened to Timothy Cooper's two albums, Light on the Water and East Wind fifteen times. That is a total of fifty-nine solo piano tracks times.. well, you do the math. It took a while to do it and I am the better for it. And I would not hesitate to do it again. I like Timothy's no nonsense improvisational style. His approach is clear and clean just like water, and just as life giving to the spirit. I got to wondering if he writes music that way I write reviews. The first impression is the impression that usually lasts. His track titles are plain and on point. He is a musical interpreter. His style suggests "This is what I saw and this is what I wrote." Now for some of those 59 tracks.

I realized that each of Timothy's tracks is like a short poem. They are definitely more than haiku and even more than quatrains, but with periods of activity and quiescence. If music can be complicated and simple at the same time, than this is it.

From the album of the same name, the track East Wind opens the recording with a slightly tempestuous score. It is not a violent storm, but a blustery omen. As the saying goes, "It is an ill wind that blows no one any good."

The tune Silent Stream by its very title is a bit ironic, but the sense is one of gentleness and peace. It is perhaps one of the best of the thirty tracks on the CD. The gentle flow winds down and around your mind, drawing you in for a cooling respite. The song segues nicely into Bird Flight. It is a small, brave bird that challenges the forces of nature in this warm, melodic poem. The reward is the ability to fly high above the earth and be master of all below if only for a short while.

I liked the title Holding Sway. Although the wording is antiquated, the sentiment is timely. You can be influenced by many things. Today it is mostly the media. Fortunately, in this case it is Timothy’s music. We are invited to stop and smell the roses, carpe the diem, and live life to the fullest. Geologically, the extent of a human life on planet Earth is but a wink and a nod to a mountain.

Dawn of Time is the best of the best from the album. We hear no seismic upheaval, nor any volcanic explosions within, but merely a breath of life from Mother Earth. It is a song of awakening, of birth and of knowledge.

On the whole, I found Light on the Water to be a bit more somber than East Wind, but every artist has a serious period....

87 microphones is the number it took to make the recordings, a quantity noteworthy in itself somewhat like the generous amount of tracks on the collections. Both albums, East Wind and Light on the Water offer a plethora of emotionally charged tunes that will suit any mood or perhaps stimulate the change of one. I liked both CDs and several times played one right after the other for a lengthy session with my inner self. I was rewarded every time.

Rating: Very Good Very Good


EAST WIND
April 2008
Author: RadioIndy.com

"Solo Pianist Timothy Cooper brings you 'East Wind,' an album of deep concept and delicate intimacy... The sound and arrangements are vast, weightless and deep…If you like solo piano compositions and music fit for relaxation and retrospect, you'll love this wonderfully-produced collection."
                            Read more...
                        

                            
Solo Pianist Timothy Cooper's Music Is Gently Powerful
The 30 selections on the Timothy Cooper solo piano CD, EAST WIND, show the influence of various forms of Asian art such as a Japanese haiku poem, a Chinese watercolor-on-silk drawing, or a tiny cultivated banzai tree, perfect in their sparseness and simplicity.  The music sounds delicate and crystalline one moment, but forceful and resonating the next.  Unlike most contemporary recordings, 21 of these tunes are under two-minutes in length (and five are a few seconds over or under a minute).  Even so, there are quite a few others of more standard length.

All of the music is inspired by Cooper traveling extensively throughout the Far East over the past decade.  He has met the people, seen incredible vistas, visited temples and the Great Wall of China, watched the seasons change, felt the weather on his skin.  All of that affected him and he put it into this music.

This is soul-stirring piano music.
                            Read more...
                        

                            
RadioIndy is proud to present Timothy Cooper a GrIndie Award for their CD "East Wind." A GrIndie Award is RadioIndy's stamp of approval that this CD is an excellent quality CD. Please join us in congratulating this artist on this accomplishment.
                            Read more...
                        

                            
“East Wind” is one of two solo piano CDs released simultaneously by Timothy Cooper (the other is “Light on the Water”). “East Wind” is a fascinating collection of thirty short (from 43 seconds to 3 1/2 minutes) piano pieces that were composed as a tribute to the victims of 9/11 and recorded on a concert grand piano. Open and a bit on the dark (but not brooding) side, this is music caught in the moment of creation by an artist who has been involved in music his whole life. Cooper’s musical career began as a soprano in various boys choirs that recorded albums and toured the US and abroad. As a teenager, he studied sitar until he took up piano as a student at The American Film Institute in Los Angeles. Over the years, Cooper developed his own style of improvisational composition, and finally began recording his music later in 2001. Most of the pieces on “East Wind” are quiet and intimate, with the feeling of vast, deep space. There is nothing harsh or flamboyant about the music, and it works well with full attention or as a backdrop for other activities. From Cooper’s website: "I love the piano's ability to create oceanic sound—a great wash of sustained sound that can seem at once infinite and intimate, with no borders or boundaries--only the presence of being... Sometimes my music has no definable beginnings, no absolute endings: only waves upon waves of sound headed as if for all shores, as in the music of dreams.” Many improvised albums do not hold together well with repeated plays, but this one does,  revealing more about the music as well as the composer each time. Most of these musical vignettes have nature themes and their brevity is impressionistic like watercolor paintings or gesture drawings. Many have no distinct beginnings or endings, yet the CD is solid and consistent as a whole entity. Each little piece is distinct and unique, yet each is a part of the mood, expression, and experience of the whole. I highly recommend “East Wind” especially to those who enjoy music that is a bit more experimental and slightly edgy.
                            Read more...