Editorial Reviews
Music Review:
Music Review
Graduation/Itch [CD-single] [Import]
Haydn: Heiligmesse; Theresienmesse
Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances & Suites for 2 Pianos
Hanx [Explicit Lyrics] [Import] [Original recording remastered]
About the Artist
FROM 1970 TO 1985, MARSHALL STYLER RECORDED AND TOURED WITH RENOWNED ROCHESTER, N.Y. ROCK BAND DUKE JUPITER. THEY HAD SEVEN ALBUMS TO THEIR CREDIT ON MERCURY, EPIC-C.B.S. AND MOTOWN. IN 1986, HE DECIDED TO LEAVE THE ROCK AND ROLL LIFE AND MOVE TO TEXAS. ALTHOUGH HE WAS THE LEAD SINGER AN SONGWRITER FOR THE BAND, HE BEGAN TO FEEL LIMITED BY LYRICS AND BEGAN COMPOSING INSTRUMENTAL PIECES. IN 1991, HE RELEASED CAMDEN ROAD, HIS FIRST INSTRUMENTAL ALBUM. IT IS A COMPILATION OF LIVE PERFORMANCES ON SYNTHESIZERS. FOR THE NEXT SEVEN YEARS, MARSHALL COMPOSED THE RED RIVER TRILOGY. THE TRILOGY IS A COLLECTION OF MUSICAL IMPRESSIONS OF PEOPLE AND PLACES IN TEXAS THAT HAVE IN SOME WAY INSPIRED HIM. "I CONSIDER MYSELF AN IMPRESSIONIST IN THE SPIRIT OF THE FRENCH IMPRESSIONIST PAINTERS - DEGAS, MONET, AND MATISSE. THEY WORKED WITH COLOR AND EMOTION AND HAVE A POWERFUL ELEGANCE THAT I STRIVE FOR IN MY MUSIC." JERICHO IS MARSHALL'S FIRST ALBUM SINCE THE COMPLETION OF THE RED RIVE! R TRILOGY (BLUEFIELDS, MOCKINGBIRD STATION, AND RED RIVER CROSSING). EMPLOYING THE SAME INSTRUMENTAL STYLE HE PERFECTED WITH THE TRILOGY, MARSHALL TAKES US ON A JOURNEY THROUGH THE SUBSEQUENT YEARS OF HIS LIFE USING HIS MUSIC TO REFLECT THE JOY AND PAIN OF THAT TIME. WRITING AND RECORDING JERICHO TOOK TWO AND ONE HALF YEARS. MARSHALL COMPOSES HIS MUSIC ON PIANO. HE THEN TRANSFERS EVERYTHING TO LAYERS OF SYNTHESIZERS IN HIS AUSTIN BASED STUDIO. WITH THE TRILOGY FINISHED, ORDERS FOR THE COMPLETE SET SOON INUNDATED STYLER MUSIC. WITH THIS BACKDROP OF EXCITING, CRITICAL, AND COMMERCIAL SUCCESS, MARSHALL WOULD NOW FACE THE MOST TRYING PERIOD OF HIS LIFE. IN A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME MARSHALL SUFFERED THE TRAGIC LOSS OF HIS FATHER AND LIFE THREATENING HEALTH PROBLEMS FOR HIM AND HIS WIFE. JERICHO WAS ONCE THE END OF A JOURNEY AND A PLACE OF PEACE AND BEAUTY. QUOTING MARSHALL, "ALL OF MY MUSIC IS EMOTIONAL, BUT JERICHO GOES DEEPER. IT BECAME A PRAYER FOR WHAT WAS GOING ON IN MY LIFE A! ND FOR EVERYONE THAT PRAYED FOR US."
Album Description
JERICHO IS A COLLECTION OF SOFT, MELODIC PIANO INSRTUMENTALS USING LAYERS OF SYNTHESIZERS COMPOSED, PRODUCED, AND PERFORMED BY MARSHALL STYLER. "MY MUSIC IS NOT SPACE OR SOUNDSCAPE MUSIC. I WRITE INSTRUMENTAL PIECES THAT HAVE A DEFINATE STRUCTURE BASED AROUND DEFINITE MELODIES." MARSHALL'S SYNTHESIZED KEYBOARD INSTRUMENTALS ARE LOFTY AND ROMANTIC, FILLED WITH BOTH SOFTNESS AND PASSION. HE HAS A DREAMLIKE QUALITY IN HIS MUSIC THAT EVOKES A SENSE OF PEACE.