Next to being one of the core members of the acoustic deep listening
ensemble Razen, Ameel Brecht is a trained guitar player who has a life-long involvement with the instrument’s repertoire under his belt. On his debut album “Polygraph Heartbeat” (released on Kraak in 2018), he puts his guitar-heart on the line by means of 9 compositions for steel resonator and resonator mandolin, two instruments which Ameel chose because of their specific timbral features.
The album is a reflection of polyphonic music as seen through a multi-coloured and highly personal lens, as Ameel’s guitar idiom crossbreeds a classical technique and weird open tunings with a love for early ragtime, slide grandmasters and baroque music; throwing a moebius knot around the string sounds of Roy Smeck and Turlough O’Carolan.
As is the case with Razen’s body of work, Brecht’s solo pieces confront because of their pureness and their focus on essential sound.
”Polygraph Heartbeat” is an album which shows a committed musician who employs control and craftsmanship in order to dissect the Condition Humaine of the 21stCentury.
‘Music is an openhearted gamble; whatever lengthens the day, whatever gets you through the night.’