Lara Downes & Friends – Hold These Truths
This showcase begins pensively with a short piano piece, “Welcome,” & like several of the 21 cuts on this album, it’s precise & brief. The compositions vary from works written by Oscar Peterson, Willie Nelson, Charles Ives, Stephen Foster, Leonard Bernstein & Aaron Copland. It’s quite a variety mixed with other composers of equal merit. Lara Downes is the pianist, & she displays a light touch on her grand piano — excellently recorded, & produced by Silas Brown with Lara in South Salem, NY.
More enthusiastic is “Lusty & Joyful.” Lara plays with more vigor, deeper notes, & a pinch of aggressiveness. A listener can gain much appreciation by allowing the musicality of Hold These Truths (Drops July 10/Pentatone/72:58) to guide them through without any political overtures. Lara makes her statement through her fingers on the 88 keys & awakens the senses.
The music’s delightful throughout – some is more intense than others, but the clarity is never attenuated. Each piece is a convincing journey if you listen. It’s not a concept album but a document. Any controversy should not be tacked onto this effort because the intent is honorable. Music is a universal healing element that, when planted in the soil of the ears, gives birth to remarkable feelings & emotions.
The selections are rich in melody, & the first one to tickle the stereocilia is Oscar Peterson’s “Hymn To Freedom.” The LP is designed for aficionados of instrumental music, particularly piano. There are no vocals. In some areas, the inclusion of banjo, cello, violin, & mandolin adds the necessary color. Willie Nelson’s “Changing Skies” starts like a snippet of a classical melody, but the addition of more Americana instruments comes as a pleasant surprise. Quite impressive & seems to prove how wonderfully interlaced 2 different musical genres can & will hug each other with expressive sound. Each is impeccably arranged.
More upbeat & slightly shy of being almost ragtime is “The Frolic,” while “In the Mornin’” is a bit more melancholic. Strumming mandolin & piano notes mesh beautifully & convincingly. Obviously paced well, “Jubilee” follows with more fanfare, jubilance, & the piano sounds like it’s dueling the way a scat singer does with the band. Clever. Entertaining. Nothing stuffy.
This is Lara Downes’ compass & passport through a 2-year odyssey across America that connects communities, shares stories, & reflects on the complexities of contemporary American life. It’s a personal statement managed with care & diplomacy. Thoroughly enchanting, soothing & through a classical angle, Ms. Downes’ piano traverses the other genres of music as tasty as salty potato chips & dark chocolate. Take a big bite…take a really big bite. Thank her later.
Highlights – “Hymn To Freedom,” “Changing Skies,” “Lusty & Joyful,” “The Frolic,” “In the Mornin,’” “Jubilee,” “In the Sweet By and By,” “In Time of Desperation,” “Hard Times Come Again No More,” & “Finding Home.”
Musicians – 9 Horses: Joseph Brent (mandolin), Sara Caswell (violin), Andrew Ryan (bass) with Invoke: Nick Montopoli (violin/banjo), Zach Matteson (violin), Karl Mitze (viola/mandolin), & Geoff Manyin (cello).
A 16pp stitched insert is included. CD @ Apple & https://www.laradownes.com/ & https://www.pentatonemusic.com/product/hold-these-truths-digital-only-album/