Johannes Tonio Kreusch - Times Of Joy (CD)

Release Date: 11/03/23

All facets of the guitar, captured with world stars from all generations and genres - this album provides the listener with a time of pure joy

'Times of Joy', these are for Johannes Tonio Kreusch for many years his experiences as a guitarist and musician. A joy that - it is often forgotten - wanted to be hard-earned. Johannes Tonio Kreusch first studied philosophy, until the clarity and beauty of the sounds of Johann Sebastian Bach finally led him to the guitar and to classical guitar studies in Salzburg and New York.
He counters the almost egomaniacal soloism and the constricting genre purity of the classical scene with a holistic approach. As a journeyman's piece, so to speak, he reinterpreted the guitar music of Heitor Villa-Lobos on his debut album by delving deeply into the sources and manuscripts of this brilliant Brazilian composer. Then he experimented with the guitar sound and found the way to improvisation with the help of his brother, the jazz pianist Cornelius Claudio Kreusch - with whom he congenially complements each other to this day. Finally, as artistic director of the guitar festivals in Hersbruck and Wertingen as well as the Ottobrunn concerts, he opened the door for the guitar as wide as hardly anyone before: open to style and genre. Because for Johannes Tonio Kreusch, that is the basis of his 'Times of Joy': the encounter. The conversation about and through music. So the title 'Times of Joy' of his new album is understood correctly: it is a collec-tion of the most beautiful of these encounters, almost a quintessence of his musical work to date. Captured preferably in duets with outstanding figures who accompanied him part of the way.