Across The Water

Eric Chapelle | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 8, 2010)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Hamsa Music
• ASIN: B003E7JUMU
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #271,325 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Review from NewAgeMusicWorld.Com / NewAgeMusic.nu, November 10, 2010

By 

John P. Olsen / Review Publicist (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Across The Water (Audio CD)

While water is one natural element necessary to sustain life, music is one non essential we can certainly live without but then again, fluid and tranquil music can be a calming neutralizer to a more harmonious life, especially when one is caught in a hurricane of stormy life challenges.

Eric Chapelle is a composing pianist from Austin Texas whose original music scores conceivably calm the waters in several ways. Born in France, Eric is also an avid photographer who has lived in several countries around the world and his piano music retains the essential element for relaxing music by the calm buoyancy in sound that finds neutral ground with the pounding waves heard in some music today.

Across The Water is his Contemporary Instrumental 2010 release that impart 16 songs in ambient expression and creative imagination. Eric has performed his original compositions in concerts across the U.S. for over a decade, plus movie soundtracks in television, film, and commercials have been the scores that yielded wider recognition in addition to the 2 albums to his credit. Our Time was his 1998 album admired by many and had justifiably earned Eric a place alongside more esteemed pianists after his opening debut.

Eric Chapelle's contributions in The Heart Aid Project has inspired me to tell you more about the story behind his dedicated efforts in a tribute CD in memorandum of the fateful World Trade Center events on 9 / 11. In addition to Eric who conceived and produced the project, he and review publicist Kathy Parsons had corresponded with 16 additional well respected pianists and everyone compiled the tribute CD without royalties. Simply put, their time and virtuous work on this 9 / 11 remembrance album is to be commended, in addition their efforts have also reaffirmed my current knowledge that the 17 contributors response is very much representative of the caliber of people who comprise the New Age genre today.

Across The Water is another fine illustration of the resourcefulness put into every composition. Julia Cory is a cellist from Texas joining Eric on songs Every Wish & Soft Landing then guitarist John Inmon & cellist Dawn Biega offer their contributing instrumentals on Across The Water ( Title Track ) Their level of performance and musical drama they offer expressively impart gentle movement into the picture and is well suited to the principal ideals this album represents.

This album retains yet one more harmonious notation since some of the 16 songs on Across The Water were recorded at the 150 acre Norton Island Retreat residency program created by the Easter Frontier Educational Foundation in Maine. Eric has characterized the island as an inspiring destination of solitude where writers and musicians like him can compose in peaceful moments of relaxing clarity.

Norton Island is one song where the natural environment of the retreat is evenly transferred then shown like a scenic picture of captured images. The comparatively timed piano solos, casual in ambient recollections like heard in Tide Pool wonderfully convey an impression of calm by the fluid detailing in chord phrasing and lighter melodies that offer subtle reflections using even handed moderation, much attune to Wild Iris in the mellow point of view it brings.

Remembrance is another beautiful song that carries a wonderful Cinematic overtone with every measure, and although the song on the surface is light the well placed notes engrave a deep feel of melancholy, in nicely placed emotional content I found quite moving. Contrasting soprano chorals evenly trace the piano melody while outlining lower octaves then model into more dramatic posturing and boldly crescendo as if gentle waves were moving across the shoreline.

While Across The Water from Eric Chapelle is not essential to daily living, his inspired by nature album is a solid collection of calming ambience that provides a wealth of relaxing harmony for the listener, smoothing out the rough edges of today while remaining anchored in a state of readiness for the next enduring wave of life challenges that are sure to arise.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Across the Water - 3 Straight Ahead, May 25, 2010

By 

Linda J. Jaques - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Across The Water (Audio CD)

This piece of music is charming in the purest sense. Changes in key make me imagine crystalline waters changing hue according to depth, from utter transparency to deep aquamarine blue. The percussive quality is reminiscent of Indonesian gamelan. Altogether delightful, in a word, transcendent.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pure pleasure, April 22, 2010

By 

Hilary (Sacramento CA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Across The Water (Audio CD)

Warm and lyrical for the most part, with the occasional detour into fizzy fun (like the engaging "Mopac") this album is hard to categorize but very, very easy to enjoy. Chapelle has a knack for writing progressions that seem inevitable without being obvious - the listener is constantly drawn along by the melodic lines, which may be soothing but are never dull. Compelling listening.