Zack Rish

Violinist Herwig Zack puts the spotlight on the unaccompanied four strings of his instrument, with J. S. Bach as the foundation, inspiring the 20th century composers Ben-Haim, Berio and Bloch. Violinist Herwig Zack, who produced a compelling and imaginative solo recording with Essentials (AV2155), follows with an equally inspired recital that casts the spotlight on the “4 strings only” of his unaccompanied violin. With J. S. Bach providing the foundations on which arguably all solo violin repertoire was created, Zack places his Second Sonata at the heart of the program and surrounds it with four mid-20th century works which were indelibly inspired by the Baroque master.

Zack Logan comes from a long tradition of American singer songwriters mining a seam of blue collar, working man’s hopes and dreams. Opening with the subtle finger-picked delight ‘Annalee’ with its gorgeous string backing is reminiscent of early John Prine or perhaps a less care worn Kristofferson. So this is good stuff. It is in many ways a simple album, effective narratives driven by simple guitar lines and fiddle accompaniment, lyrically straightforward but affecting with some gorgeous warm production and a voice built for weaving acoustic stories.

From the epic nature of the last single ‘Zeit’, to this new utterly unhinged outing, you never get anything less than thrilling by the German pioneers of their own eccentric Industrial metal…