The vibraphonist and composer, Pascal Schumacher has made a name for himself in a variety of collaborative endeavors. From quartets to symphonic orchestras, jazz tunes to classical chamber music, he has built a unique relationship with his instrument and has been relentless in assuring his position as a versatile and adventurous musician. Now he launches his first solo album, SOL via Neue Meister label. SOL captures Pascal’s newfound passion for solitude in all its magnetism. Yet, it remains true to a relationship’s main characteristic, intimacy. First imagine empty space. Darkness, then a spark, a central light. A lone figure stands revealed by in a strange ambience of purple and blue and white. In front of him, the metallic edifice of a vibraphone. The figure bows, he gazes forward. When he strikes the bars with two blue-tipped mallets in each hand, the notes chime and ring out through the darkness like signals through the cosmos. Shimmering, the volume of the notes pulsates, dilating and swelling in darkness, twinkling and dissolving. A reverie is born of the otherworldly quality of the solo vibraphone, pulsating in space, with Pascal Schumacher caught in a hollow square of light, a lonesome figure behind a bank of instruments. There is in intimacy illuminated within the profound darkness circling around the central tableau puts you into a unique, personal one-to-one interaction. This isn’t just solo music because it is performed by one person, it is solo because it insists on a direct one-to-one intimacy with the listener. Other forms of music—terrace anthems, party hip-hop, funeral dirges—are experienced as a shared group activity, but this is intimate music that directs the listener to listen personally and intently.