Joachim Kuhn

Touch the Light Joachim Kuhn

When Siggi Loch first floated the idea that Joachim Kühn might like to make an album of ballads, the pianist's response was jocular and rebellious, as is typical of him: "Maybe when I'm ninety..." That initial resistance wasn't to last long, and Kühn, now in his midseventies, soon started to settle down at the fine Steinway in his home - he keeps it impeccably tuned - switch on his DAT recorder, and set to work. "The advantage of being here at home in Ibiza is that I can simply make a recording when I want to. When the feeling comes, I just record," Kühn reflects.

Above all, however, it is in the simplicity, the spaciousness and the sheer delight in melody of his own compositions that Kühn both touches the heart and gives us the greatest surprises on this album. "Sintra" is a tune written down in a peaceful moment outside a café in the one-time sanctuary of the Portuguese kings. And the title track "Touch the Light" captures the beauty of the sunset over the sea that Kühn often contemplates from his terrace. Kühn's remark about that tune is also true of the album as a whole: "There's a lot of love here. And joy."