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| The Citizen - 'A perfect piece' |
| Press | |||
| Tuesday, 20 November 2007 | |||
from The Citizen Musician Wouter Kellerman on embracing influences and realising a dream, writes Annette Bayne.I sit, astounded, as Wouter Kellerman describes the uncompromising attention to detail and demand for the perfect sound that went into his new album Colour. This album is his first and started as a tiny seed in his mind, where it’s been growing over the years. Five years ago he made the decision to start working on realising this dream. Classically trained, Kellerman performed as principal flautist with the National Youth Orchestra and was a soloist with the Johannesburg Symphony Orchestra. In planning the album he moved from classical music, with its dictated notes, to improvisation, and was regularly jamming with Paul Whellock. The outcome of many of their sessions makes up the bulk of the new album. When playing together, neither of them ever play the same thing twice – an element that can make recording a complex process. Kellerman kept a hands-on approach when producing his album, going out of his way to ensure the best. In his search for the perfect sound he sent the album to the Grammy-winning Husky Hoskulds, a move that paid off as Hoskulds was involved in the final mix. Best described as world music, the name of the album is interpreted in a number of ways, Kellerman explains. “It’s about the different colours of the flute and my different cultural influences in-cluding African, Latin and Irish.” The strong musical influences that distinguish this album from others, have been brewing in Kellerman since a tender age. The African music he was listening to on the radio combined with his parent’s taste in Mediterranean music. He chose to play the flute at the first symphony concert his parents took him to. Justifying this decision, he claims that “All the other instruments were being played forwards while the flute was being played to the side, and therefore it had to be a special instrument”. It was a decision that has served him well and he now plays a number of different types of flute, including the small plastic fife. “The flute is one of the most versatile instruments available and even the little fife can create beautifully expressive music.” Currently, Kellerman is dividing his time between SA, where his performances are increasingly in demand, and internationally where he is “sticking his feelers out”. “It is very difficult to release an album overseas and many top South African musicians have been unable to do so, but I will still be going to try, and I believe that my music will appeal to the wider international audience.” View artile online - http://www.thecitizen.co.za/index/article.aspx?pDesc=53192,1,22
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