Jens Kommnick - Stringed (2022) LP

Once upon a time... – Fairy tales usually begin with this familiar and beloved language formula. Just fairy tales? It can be no coincidence that Jens Kommnick has put the song Once Upon a Time at the beginning of his new solo album Stringed. "Apparently by chance," reveals Jens Kommnick, "this piece came to my mind about 10 years ago, and I always think it sounds like the atmospheric beginning of a fairy tale." The composition is more than that: it is the magical prelude to a very special album…

The lovingly designed booklet also reads the touching story of the little boy, who was given a songbook by his mother to learn to play the guitar. The boy gathered his courage, wrote to the author of all the songs and asked him for an autograph. "For Jens", he wrote on a card and had no idea "that this was to be the beginning of a wonderful friendship". The little boy was Jens Kommnick, later friend Reinhard Mey, who now remembers the coincidence many years ago in the booklet with warm-hearted words. In a touching way, Jens Kommnick makes the helm sound on Stringed Reinhard Mey's song Let go of the rudder. On his unique way to becoming one of the most remarkable and popular guitarists and instrumentalists of this country, Jens Kommnick developed his very own and unmistakable style on the guitar, somewhere between "Celtic Fingerstyle Guitar", classical, jazz and folk. The new album Stringed - surprisingly only his fourth solo album – marks a special stop on the 56-year-old's impressive musical journey.

Last but not least, the intoxicating composition The Humours of Stockfisch tells of this journey, which now led him to the legendary Stockfisch Studios. The piece is "spontaneous" to him – you rub your eyes and ears with amazement! - collapsed in front of the microphone during a recording break. You can hear a "baritone guitar", guitar lovers will hear and love such details. Jens Kommnick is a fascinating and fascinating multi-instrumentalist, for his new album Stringed he has – the title is the program – put all kinds of stringed instruments in the center; including, of course, his "Redwood", a Lowden guitar, whose warm and brilliant sound finds its way directly into the soul. It is the gentle sounds in Born an Angel and the breathtaking runs in Ton Double Fisel / Gavotte pour Soïg that touch and amaze on the new album.

Above all, however, the compositions of the new album make one thing tangible and audible: it is Jens Kommnick himself who animates the compositions with his human warmth. The loving notes in the booklet on the creation of the pieces show this warmth, be it the touching story of The Empty House or the loving memory of Christoph's Dance.

Once upon a time... – Fairy tales usually put a smile on the face of those who read them – we all remember – in the end. In a fairytale way, Jens Kommnick also succeeds with his new solo album Stringed, brilliantly recorded at Stockfisch Studios.