Customer Reviews

Paint the Forest Winter

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3 star:		(1)
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If you're antsy to get outdoors but can't due to the winter's weather, the next best thing may be to listen to Zola Van's second effort Paint the Forest Winter. Her 12 impressionist pieces were inspired by hikes through the Shawnee National Forest in Illinois, and most are some of the more melodic, romantic and visual piano efforts you'll hear this year from a piano solo release. An excellent and representative piece is "Winter's Kiss at Rim Rock Trail" (see track 6 on this month's sampler) will make you feel the sting of winter's cold.

The highlight of the CD is "Rendleman's Grave," inspired by the lonely grave that sits in a corner of a children's cemetery--the boy just a day shy of his 13th birthday.

For the piano solo lover, this release has it all: strong compositions with beautiful melodies, a deep well of interesting harmonies, and fine chops at the keys. The CD also contains fantastic liner notes, with explanations from each stop of the hiking journey and several photographs.

Paint the Forest Winter is a fabulous stroll through winter's timeless moments and open forests. -- Peter Manzi, Editor

I am very impressed with Paint the Forest Winter. To find a CD that has such a range of styles and emotions these days is rare. The music takes me from a snowball fight to the tragic story of the Cherokee and lots of interesting places in between. The liner notes and pictures are great. I like the purity of the piano all alone, with none of the streamed-in sound effects that render a monotony to so many other CD's in this genre. The original compositions exhibit complexity and variety, holding my interest, pleasing my ear, and stimulating my thoughts and feelings. I've really loved the "journey" this artist has taken me on!

Zola Van's piano solos have so much depth that she virtually touches your soul with the feeling that gave her the inspiration to play these beautiful, melodic tunes.
Imagine being bundled up and warm, trekking through a quiet, peaceful forest in the heart of winter. Ice topped branches sparkling in the sun. Fluffy white snow with deer and rabbit tracks intertwined. Her music can take you there.
I can picture her inspiration to transform the feelings and experience from being alone for hours, sightseeing as she made her way through the deep forest.
But it's best to experience it for yourself. "At Rendleman's Grave", "The Snow Day" and "Paint the Forest Winter" are three of the best songs here but all are beautiful.

I don't remember how I was directed to Zola Van's music on Amazon, but I feel I was meant to discover it. After listening to just a few of her 30 second samples, I was hooked; I'm so glad I ordered the CD. From the very first notes of the first track, "Snow Dance at Sand Cave," Van reaches into the depth of one's soul, her music resonating a universal oneness of being. "Wintertide at Miller's Grove" is so beautiful and feels like it could be a theme song for a movie, something with a pastoral or reminiscent setting. It brings to mind "A Trip to Bountiful," where the main character, an elderly woman, is driven to return to her childhood home in what seems to be the middle of nowhere. "Paint the Forest Winter," the CD's title song, causes one to take a deep breath, relax, and meditate. "Trail of Tears" hits that compassionate part of the soul that makes me want to weep for the victims and the injustices inflicted on them. I can sense their weariness, dejection, and sadness. "At Rendelman's Grave" has a similar feel. I visualize the mother holding close her sick child, and than at his grave, her heart heavy, wanting to cry but trying to be strong for the surviving children. But still the tears come. The "Promise of Spring" track is very aptly placed;after two very sad songs of death, we are reminded of new life and the hope of renewal, reminiscent of the story of the Greek goddesses Persephone and her mother Demeter.
Although these songs were inspired by winter sojourns into the forest, their universal appeal makes them appropriate for any season. The poetic notations accompanying each track (found inside the jacket cover) are an added bonus. Zola Van truly is a talented and compassionate artist.

Walk with me through timeless moments of beauty as the forest rests and seems to endlessly sleep through days and months, across countless years of winter. The forest lies open and vulnerable, sharing its secrets while resting peacefully through this season of scarcity and earth, waiting patiently for spring and the promise of renewal. ~Zola Van

If snow fell to the earth as musical notes, they might sound like "Snow Dance at Sand Cave." There is a crystalline beauty in Zola Van's playing that almost rivals nature itself. Her playing is born from a love of nature and her connection with her environment weaves its way into the notes in her piano solos in an almost breathless anticipatory beauty.

While the first two solos are fast-paced and the notes dance excitably like sun glinting off ice, Winter's Kiss at Rim Rock Trail has a calming quality reminiscent of the security you would feel looking out from a warm house covered in snow. You will feel the chill of winter in the shivers Zola Van's playing will give you. The notes are especially crisp in this piece.

In Gathering at Teal Pond majesty intermingles with playfulness. Wintertide at Miller's Grove is haunting in its delicacy and an element of bittersweet memories have been inspired by a lonely pine grove. Perhaps my favorite track on this CD because the pace is comforting. I'd like to have an entire CD with songs of this pace. Zola's playing does at times have an intensity to it, but in Wintertide, she captures the true feeling of winter in its stillness.

The Snow Day might remind you of playgrounds and snowball fights. Paint the Forest Winter is exquisite and you can imagine a moonlit woods sparkling like diamonds under a starlit night. Zola's sensitivity to each note is very apparent as she delicately unfolds a painting in a musical observation.

Trail of Tears: Kyrie at Brownfield was inspired by the story of mothers who told their children to run into the forest for safety. Zola captures the immense sense of loss and heart-wrenching despair the Cherokee Indians felt in the winter of 1839. It is almost a tribute to the human spirit and even if you didn't know the story that inspired this song, you would be overwhelmed with a sense of someone feeling despair. I am only left wondering how humans could treat one another with such disrespect when surrounded by such woodland beauty.

Burden Falls is a heavier piece representing a frozen section of waterfall trapped motionless in the dead of winter. Water still moves beneath and you can hear a freedom of rushing water beneath the frozen cascades.

At Rendleman's Grave: Giant City State Park was inspired by a story of a child who lived through the Civil War. "Sleeping Periwinkles cover this site (his grave) to come forth in spring." Zola has captured a solitary stillness that then breaks into the continuation of life as it moves from one form to the next. Promise of Spring follows rather appropriately as the death of winter gives way to new life and a heaven of flowers bursting into bloom. There is a sadness of saying goodbye to winter, and a bittersweet welcoming of spring. Zola completes the mood with Vivaldi's Winter: Largo from Concerto in F minor. Her interpretation is dreamily romantic and the perfect ending to a magnificent CD filled with emotion, wonder and pure musical genius.

I am amazed by the profound way Zola captures emotions and scenic vistas. It makes the heart want to escape to this beautiful area in Southern Illinois were she is inspired and lives. I lived in Illinois as a child and part of me remembers the beauty of deep snow and the atmosphere and scents of winter. The variety in this particular CD is stunning. I have rarely heard music this beautiful and heart capturing. Paint the Forest Winter would enhance any walk out in nature, especially if snow is covering the ground.

~The Rebecca Review

Winter will never seem quite the same after hearing this CD. This is a beautiful "painting" of the season from the first snowflake in "Snowdance at Sand Cave" until the last note of Van's own arrangement of Vivaldi's "Winter" from the Four Seasons. Sensitive, haunting, and yet at times playful "Paint the Forest Winter" has remained in my CD player since I received it. It is a beautiful CD.

This album is so beautifully written and played. The music is refreshing and lyrical. I am so very impressed by Ms. Van's talent and her approach to her music. I enjoy this album and highly recommend it to everyone.

I was very impressed with the first album released from Zola Van, my family quickly became fans and enjoyed the music immensely. So it is no surprise that the second release is just as impressive and once again I find myself expanding the limits of my musical selections.

This cd includes 12 wonderfully comprised and arranged tracks. Each one is very relaxing and the sounds are almost heaven like in the way they flow off the cd. My personal favorite is the "Trail of Tears" track which I found to be exceptional.

One of the favorites of my wife is "Vivaldi's Winter" and that's only two of the tracks. Zola Van is a superb talent with a real gift for bringing out the best in the music. Van has a rare and unique ability to make the music express feelings of happy, sad, angry and joy, sometime on separate tracks and sometimes in the same track.

Overall I can't begin to express how every music lover will enjoy the listening and this album is for all ages and occasions. Don't pass this one up!

Zola's latest CD makes for great listening, especially on a winter's night. Her piano stylings, when listened to, along with her beautiful descriptions in the album notes, allows you to appreciate the beauty of the winter forest, just as she must have while actually taking the trips. The Cahmnesstown School Trail track evokes visions of years gone by, with children walking the trail in the mid 19th century and early 20th century. The Burden Falls track is a great piece, providing sounds and memories of a frozen waterfall. Track 10 of Rendleman's Grave provides a musical picture along with an album notes photo of a gravesite where a Civil War 13 year old lad is resting after all of these years. Zola's album notes provide a nice personal touch. I feel like I know her personally, after listening to her lovely piano renditions and reading about her and her travels. Very, very nice.

Zola Van's second CD continues the theme of telling the story of a hiking trip in Southern Illinois via eleven original piano solos and her arrangement of Vivaldi's Largo from the Concerto in F Minor. "Paint the Forest Winter", like "River to River Trail", colorfully depicts various stops, sites, and natural wonders, and both albums were inspired by hikes through Shawnee National Forest. Van's unique approach is gaining her much recognition from music-lovers and musicians, as well as hiking organizations,The Illinois Department of Natural Resources, and The National Forest Service.

I really like Zola Van's composing and playing styles. Her playing is strong and capable without using flash for its own sake. Her compositions are open and personal, and with her accounts of the songs and their inspiration in the liner notes, it is easy to see what she was seeing and experiencing on her hike. Most of the pieces are fluid and expressive, and some of them remind me a little of Robin Spielberg, who is one of my favorite composers. The entire CD works really well as a whole, but I'll mention a few favorites. "Snow Dance at Sand Cave" was inspired at the largest sandstone cave in North America while the snow "gently dances like crystals in the sunlight". Light, swirling, and very joyful, this is a beautiful way to begin the musical hike. "Winter's Kiss at Rim Rock Trail" gives an icy chill, much as the stinging wind does, also bringing a sense of exhilaration with the thrill of being out in the elements and experiencing the whims of Mother Nature. I don't know if it was intentional but "The Snow Day" reminds me in sections of "Linus and Lucy" from the "Peanuts" specials. This piece tells of the excitement of a "Snow Day" and not having to go to school. Who wouldn't rather play in the snow? Van effectively captures children's taunts during a snowball fight, and makes this piece a joy! "Trail of Tears: Kyrie at Brownfield" tells of the forced march of the Cherokee Indians in 1839 as they were being relocated. The conditions were so terrible that many of the mothers sent their children into the forest for safety, cold and alone. Many of the children as well as the elderly suffered and died, and were buried in this area in unmarked graves. The darkest and saddest of the songs in this collection, the emotions are very powerful and gracefully conveyed. "Burden Falls" is also bold and powerful in its depiction of a waterfall frozen in its path. The photo in the liner notes is almost as stunning as the song!

"Paint the Forest Winter" is a wonderful collection to inspire those who love the outdoors as well as those who prefer to experience it from the comfort of the couch with headphones on. Very highly recommended!