Nick Duggan: African Rain

• Released: 2006
• Rating: 8/10

Putting together a collection of piano – only based music must be a daunting prospect.

From the age of 8 to 14 years I studied piano, so I know exactly what’sinvolved in playing. Unfortunately I never got to the stage of composing pieces.My compositional skills were confined to Art College and teaching Art -believe me there are parallels, as there is with reviewing. However, therehave been no such problems for Nick Duggan.

This musical maestro based in Thailand, who also commutes between the UK andSpain (Santa Pola, Costa Blanca) delivers a sublime collection of entrancingthemematic titles, ranging from personal observations, thoughts and memories.The reason behind its success is the shortness of the pieces, which rangefrom 1 minute 45 seconds to 4 minutes 45 seconds max.

There’s no attempt on Duggan’s part to become self indulgent either, whichis an easy trap to fall into. His non-commercial tunes which are very‘accessible’ in listening terms, are compact, fluid, nice and simple and wellthought out, still allowing enough time and space to show his prowess.

Technically this CD is faultless. Without lyrics, it might be difficult toevaluate what a musician is attempting to convey. By definition, this a verypersonal CD, which he hopes will be appreciated by all. Certainly with manycompositions Duggan has captured some very interesting moments.

Nick says of his opening track appropriately titled Arrival, “Thispiece is really by way of an announcement, a hint of further things to comeon the CD, as it was written when many of the songs were already done. Thereis also a feeling of arriving home in this sense with a compositionalstyle.”

Other titles, such as Sand Dance attempt to bring a musicalinterpretation of the title – where he simply conveys the wind blowing onsand dunes. When travelling, we often have brief encounters with totalstrangers (some I’m sure we’d rather forget – I can think of quite a few!!),most of whom we will probably never see again.Friends In Foreign Places is almost a lament – and it works toperfection, capturing that mood. Whilst watching his wife resting, he conjuredup Rest Awhile – it is effectively a musical portrait. His gentleivory tinkling is the foundation for another memory – a train journey inKenya – with raindrops and rainbow observed over the rift valley.This is enough to recreate the experience which never resulted in a downpour,as the piece shows us.

Regret is a powerful emotion – Duggan reflects onparting shots on the exquisite Parting Words. On Tawin Ha (yearningin Thai) is his wife’s favourite. The y call it ‘our song’ as it reminds themof their embryonic relationship.

Confessing he has difficulty naming compositions, the title for playful ACurious Thing came from suddenly seeing a lizard moving across the floorof his room. A perfect co-incidence! Best of all is Prelude (the preludefrom his first Prelude and Fugue in C). In musician’s terms, he uses anobbligato bass employing an augmented 5th (hence a slightly exotic and lessobvious sound), which finally resolves from G# to a G at the end.

This easy listening experience is perfect for chilled-out times, or weddings,where you need some graceful background music, not musak.

This CD can be purchased on