CD review: David Wildi Guitar Poetry – Endawin 2022: Video, CD cover

“Melody is the soul,” says David Wildi, and it is from this understanding that his latest album “Endawin” was born. Wildi plays the melodies as wide arcs, which he completes – also in his improvisations – whenever possible.

The fragmentary is not his thing, all the more precise and form-conscious is his playing. Every sound is right, chord and single-note playing intertwine, a tension subtly builds up.

The melodic themes are central. The way they expand and culminate, blossom and dissolve again in the flow is one of the strong listening experiences of this music. It is grounded by jazz and blues and does not miss its funky touch (“Jackfish”).

Titles like “Coral Reef”, “Missing Birds of Passage”, “Starling Cloud”, “Pearl Island”, “Signs Of Great Change” or “Traveling Light” tell of the themes that inspire David Wildi. They are the creative processes of nature, the moods of certain places, the universal connections. Spiritual themes have become increasingly important in recent years. Perhaps that is why the music seems so focused and at the same time weightless. A gentle melancholy and serene cheerfulness touch each other, and hope for a better world is also palpable in the moods. “It’s important to me that my music touches hearts, that a certain empathy is always palpable, and that melancholic elements lead back to confidence.”

What I like about Endawin is the uncompromising nature of the compositions. I concentrated entirely on taking the melodies that were created as purely as possible and not using any compositional techniques. The small instrumentation brings out the essence of the compositions. They were created by processing individual ideas that I had collected over a long period of time. These sketches are constantly being created in a variety of places. Today I am working on other pieces not dissimilar to those of Endawin. I have a lot of collected sketches in the drawer. I am constantly working on them:  interview with me said David Wildi.

01. Coral Reef
02. The Missing Birds of Passage
03. Endawin
04. Starling Cloud
05. Lost and Forsaken
06. Jackfish
07. Pearl Island
08. Signs of Great Change
09. Secret Hope
10. Traveling Light