Solitaire

Elmar Schulte, a German keyboardist, originated this project from its base in the modest community of Paderborn, although its creative sources lie in distant terrains, above all the sweeping vistas of the American Southwest, Scotland, and Norway. Schulte chose the name in tribute to the music on Desert Solitaire, the album created by American synthesists Steve Roach, Kevin Braheny, and Michael Stearns (see listing under Roach). Solitaire's dark, textural pieces and occasional ethnic rhythms stand apart from the sequencer-dominated legacy of the 1970s German electronic school established by Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze.