American Heritage
Zoho, 2020
8/10
The piano extraordinaire Jeni Slotchiver returns with a tribute to legendary composers in the area of folk music, where she reworks traditional and folk songs with her always exceptional and profoundly stirring key work.
The lengthy album leads with Samuel Cole-Ridge Taylors’ “Deep River, Op. 59, No. 10”, where Slotchiver’s proficient keys exude much beauty and grace in the emotional opening, and Margaret Bonds’ “Troubled Water” follows with swifter moments of key acrobatics as well as calmer ebbs of pretty musicianship.
Of the longer pieces, Harry Thacker Burleigh’s “From The Southland” unfolds with 6 movements that span bare and intimate to playful and adventurous, while Florence B. Price’s “Dances In The Canebreaks” dances with spirited and spellbinding fluidity that few could replicate.
At the end, Frederic Rzewski’s “Down By The Riverside” offers a firm and daring display of versatile skill, and “Swanee River”, by William Grant Still, exits with 2 minutes of radiant and sublime playing that’s memorable and timeless.
A very relevant record with America undergoing a civiil rights movement, Slotchiver pays homage to primarily African-American composers here, as she preserves their heritage with these poetic and often spiritual renditions.
Travels well with: John DiMartino- Passion Flower; Orli Shaham- Mozart Complete Piano Sonatas