REFLECTIONS: Scott Joplin Reconsidered

by Lara Downes

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Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
Chart-topping American pianist Lara Downes reflects on the music of Scott Joplin through a 21st-century lens, revealing its many layers of genre-blurring subtlety and nuance. Joplin is revered as The “King of Ragtime". He’s acknowledged as a classically-trained composer of concert music whose ambitions were denied in his own time. He was both of those things, and more - an innovator who merged traditions and histories to make music at the crossroads of the American future. His story is ready to be retold. The fullness of Joplin’s artistry shines through in Downes’ open-hearted interpretations, heard in arrangements that transcend historical boundaries. The album is book-ended with music from Joplin's opera Treemonisha, and features a fluid suite of rags and drags that include collaborations with mandolinist Joe Brent, the Brooklyn Youth Chorus, and baritone Will Liverman in the world premiere recording of the heart-wrenching ballad A Picture Of Her Face.
In Lara’s words: "There's a multi-faceted, timeless beauty to this music - a world of emotion and expression waiting to be experienced and embraced. I'm profoundly moved by Joplin's innovative creative vision, the depth of his blended musical roots, and the breadth of what grew from them."

Includes unlimited streaming of REFLECTIONS: Scott Joplin Reconsidered via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. ... more

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Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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*LIMITED EDITION* Cassette Tape
Cassette + Digital Album
Featuring expanded content including an audio version of Lara’s liner notes, and a live performance of “Prelude from Treemonisha” at Harlem Stage, February 14, 2022

Includes unlimited streaming of REFLECTIONS: Scott Joplin Reconsidered via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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1.	Prelude from Treemonisha 02:02		buy track
2.	Weeping Willow 02:42		buy track
3.	Peacherine 01:49		buy track
4.	Maple Leaf Rag (Arr. By Stephen Buck) 02:55	info	buy track
5.	The Chrysanthemum 03:29		buy track
6.	Bethena 04:16		buy track
7.	The Entertainer 03:15	info	buy track
8.	Reflection Rag 03:38		buy track
9.	Magnetic Rag (Arr. By Stephen Buck) 03:36	info	buy track
10.	A Picture of Her Face (Arr. By Jeremy Siskind) 04:04	info	buy track
11.	Euphonic Sounds 02:16		buy track
12.	Solace (Arr. By Lara Downes and Joe Brent) 05:17	info	buy track
13.	Heliotrope Bouquet 02:20	info	buy track
14.	Eugenia 03:25		buy track
15.	Elite Syncopations (Arr. By Stephen Buck & Adam Abeshouse) 02:24	info	buy track
16.	Swipsey 02:52	info	buy track
17.	Treemonisha: A Real Slow Drag (Arr. By Stephen Buck) 03:53	info	buy track
18.	Album Commentary 08:40		buy track

about

Chart-topping American pianist Lara Downes reflects on the music of Scott Joplin through a 21st-century lens, revealing its many layers of genre-blurring subtlety and nuance. Joplin is revered as The “King of Ragtime". He’s acknowledged as a classically-trained composer of concert music whose ambitions were denied in his own time. He was both of those things, and more - an innovator who merged traditions and histories to make music at the crossroads of the American future. His story is ready to be retold. The fullness of Joplin’s artistry shines through in Downes’ open-hearted interpretations, heard in arrangements that transcend historical boundaries. The album is book-ended with music from Joplin's opera Treemonisha, and features a fluid suite of rags and drags that include collaborations with mandolinist Joe Brent, the Brooklyn Youth Chorus, and baritone Will Liverman in the world premiere recording of the heart-wrenching ballad A Picture Of Her Face.
In Lara’s words: "There's a multi-faceted, timeless beauty to this music - a world of emotion and expression waiting to be experienced and embraced. I'm profoundly moved by Joplin's innovative creative vision, the depth of his blended musical roots, and the breadth of what grew from them."

credits

released February 4, 2022

Joe Brent
Will Liverman
Brooklyn Youth Chorus
Judy Kang
Chiara Fasi
Tia Allen
Yves Dharamraj
Kevin Sun
Adam Abeshouse
Stephen Buck
Jeremy Siskind

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about

Lara Downes California

Lara Downes has been called “an explorer whose imagination is fired by bringing notice to the underrepresented and forgotten”. Her musical roadmap seeks inspiration from the legacies of history, family, and collective memory, excavating the broad landscape of American music to create acclaimed recordings that serve as gathering spaces for her listeners to find common ground and shared experience. ... more

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