Secret journey...

Last midnight i was sinking into the silent lonely darkness of the night with the melody of “secret journey” , listening to my old stream of life - my childhood - flowing as if it was only yesterday ... I heard the sound of joy and sadness, of all the belief, hope and little happiness that had just come by ... It was also my secret journey, and it's still going on along with the sun rising happily waving to me in the middle of the horizon , and you are the sun of my own ...

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Omar Akram encourages listeners to come with him on an exotic Secret Journey, an appropriate title for his new Real Music album since he grew up traveling around the world as the son of a United Nations diplomatliving in such diverse locales as France, Cuba, Afghanistan and the Czech Republic. On Omar’s third contemporary instrumental CD, strong melodies are presented within tapestry-like arrangements carefully interweaving his acoustic grand piano with acoustic guitar, violin, duduk, flute and ethnic percussion performed by a group of world-class musicians.


“I look around me and see people who are bored, restless, stagnant,” explains Akram, “and I know they often take ‘secret journeys’ in their mind as they daydream about other places they could be. The lucky ones get to take an actual trip where they escape from the pressures of their lives. They see new places and have uncommon experiences. I like to think the music on my album can serve as the soundtrack for their journey, whether it is a mental or a physical trip. Everyone needs to get away sometime.”


In addition to the title track, “Secret Journey,” all of the tunes were inspired by what might be seen or felt on a special trip. Some of the compositions capture the heritage of Omar’s Afghani ancestors (“Caravan,” “Nomadic Rhapsody,” “Gypsy Spirit”). On such a journey you might see a distant lake-like “Mirage,” a “Shimmering Star” in the night’s blue-black heavens, or a rare but beautiful “Desert Flower.” Omar says “Seven Secrets” was influenced by the ancient architectural “Seven Wonders of the World” like the Great Pyramids, but also references all the lost knowledge of past generations. “I want the music to sound multi-cultural,” explains Akram, “but not be tied to any particular country.”


Often the best trips include romance which is reflected on the new recording with “Run Away With Me,” “Passage of the Heart” (“Love can be quite a journey in itself,” says Omar) and “Whispers in the Moonlight” (“It can be shared intimacies between lovers or the sound of wind-shifting sand in the desert at night”). The album closes with the gentle piano-violin duet “Angel of Hope” because “in today’s world with all the war, famine, pollution and loneliness, everyone needs hope for a better future.”