Mondenkind

When chance takes a hand, it can write the most unlikely stories. Michael Wollny has made more than a dozen albums as leader during his 15 years as a recording artist, but has left it until now to make his first "classic" solo piano album. His innate curiosi- ty, the desire to interact with other musicians, the temptation to discover new and original music together with others have normal- ly proved far too great. After all, solo piano, whether on stage or in a studio, appears - at least on the surface - to be a lonely under- taking. However, in early 2020 the time seemed right for Wollny to start to delve into the endless fund of music, stories, thoughts, moods, images and encounters that he has been accumulating over the years. When it happened, the act of making the solo recording in April 2020 fell in the middle of the worldwide lock- down. The time, then, to retreat into oneself, a moment when the world has suddenly become smaller and quieter, lost its regular pulse, when the normal and constant flood of stimuli has been cut off, and in which many people find that their gaze starts to turn inward...