ZHU
Inner Sanctuary
(p) & (c) 1998 Gopher Productions Inc.
12tks/62mins

Air, floating, weightless. Or, maybe, mysterious, tender, flowing. Or, better to say, pure, clear, light. To my mind, all these epithets can be rightfully attributed to the music by Zhu.

Next to his debut album Journeys, which received broad recognition of the listeners, Canadian musician has recently released his new album Inner Sanctuary, which is similar to clear and transparent diamond. The music by Zhu rises spirit and really gives a shelter to a person being exhausted by the modern world, which is often cruel and depressively insane. Undoubtedly, the music possesses so strong healing abilities, because Zhu is not only a musician. He has the third degree of dedication in Traditional Japanese Reiki and he also is a certified Reiki Master in Usui Healing System. For those who do not know what Reiki is, I can tell that it is a healing system where a person is healed by energy coming from a Reiki Master. And the Reiki Master is a conductor of healing energy which cleans the channels in a human body. Of course, this is a rather rough description for this delicate process. Music by Zhu was highly estimated by other Reiki Masters, which successfully use it in their healing treatments. Still, Inner Sanctuary is good to hear for any person just for relaxation and removing of accumulated stress.

Zhu has begun his musical studies since age of six. He is a classically trained composer and orchestrator. His music is influenced by the orchestrated works of such famous composers as Smetana and Dvorak, and also by modern musician Andreas Vollenweider. Similar to sparkling on the sun water splashes, refined music by the Canadian multiinstrumentalist is likely to the Far Eastern melodies of famous Kitaro.

Still, I need to say that Zhu has its own, very special style. And one more thing: his arrangements are very rich. Zhu uses all the advantages of modern electronic musical equipment, giving listener a possibility to enjoy the play of many varied instruments.

So, do not miss this charming album released by brave, independent studio Gopher Productions.

I would like to conclude this very short review by the words of Zhu himself, which characterize his creative work best of all: "I am constantly researching, trying to unlock more doors leading me to information about the roots of healing and improving the state of the human condition. I have found that music is the vehicle by which I can share my discoveries with the world".

Serge Kozlovsky