free mind

Axel Schultheiß - acoustic guitars, voice, temple bells

Fingerstyle guitarist Axel Schultheiss has created a CD that recalls the work of Phil Glass, Steve Reich, and other minimalist composers whose pieces explore sonic textures and subtle rhythmic inflections rather than involved harmonic progressions and elaborate melodies. Schultheiss layers acoustic guitars to create a shimmering, orchestral wash of sound, and his pieces develop kaleidoscopically with shifting rhythmic pulses that are often anchored bey repetitive but interesting ostinato figures. The best of Schultheiss’ tunes, like “Spiral Dance” and “Lonely Hope are highly evocative and mesmerizing in an ambient sort of way.

Ron Forbes-Roberts
Acoustic Guitar 6/01, USA

Axel Schultheiss is a promising representative of the acoustic guitar scene. With “Free Mind” the gifted fingerpicker presents highly individual paintings of sound. Meditative spheres alternate with accurate and interlocked sequences of rhythmic layerings that are seldom heard in this manner and quality. Thanks to his astonishingly huge dramatic and emotional bandwidth he transports a lot of warmth besides all technical virtuosity.

Dieter Stork
Gitarre & Bass 8/01, GER

A new and interesting guitarist of German origin who belongs to the top. On this CD technique, expression and sensitiveness flow together balanced by a mature and versatile guitarist showing facets from huge dynamics like e.g. in “Free Mind” to quiet stillness in “Lonely Hope” up to the suggestive “Spiral Dance” which is intense and meditative but always takes some minimalist approach. It is because of these timbres and his compositional variety that Schultheiss expresses himself so fascinating.

Giovanni Palombo     Chitarra 3/01, I

Axel Schultheiss can not be musically categorized. Minimal Art, sensitive rhythms and meditative spheres melt together to a completely unique style. This technically perfect and expressive music full of huge dynamics is of high quality.

Marco Polo
New Folk Sounds 4/01, NL

...guitar sounds full of refinement...long and excessive compositions, exactly and contrapuntally interwoven guitar lines, a tremendously clear mixdown, attractive contrasts between groovy uptempo pieces and filigree voluptuous meditative titles, tastefully ignoring stylistic borders.

Michael Lohr
Akustikgitarre 1/01, GER

Guitarist Axel Schultheiss freed himself from stylistic idols and has found his unique musical language - apart from all stylistic categories. Schultheiss creates fascinating worlds of sound, sometimes sensitively wrapt in thought and sometimes rhythmically impulsive but always technically perfect.

Christian Hanelt  
Die Rheinpfalz, GER

For soundexamples go to Acoustic Music Records/Portraits.