Maiden's
Voyage, the tenth album release in Catherine Marie Charlton's twenty-plus year
recording career, arcs gracefully through orchestrations and styles ranging
from contemporary jazz to the artist's trademark spacious meditations. The common motif is the pianist/composer's
identifiable sound-passion, strength, and power, flowing interchangeably with
tender expressiveness.
Mastered by
Grammy® winning engineer/producer Phil Nicolo (Spanish Harlem Orchestra, Bob
Dylan, Lauryn Hill), Maiden's Voyage represents a decade-long collaboration
between producer Charlton and recording/mixing engineer Eric Troyer (ELO Part
II/The Orchestra), who brings his sensibilities and significant musicianship to
the project. The lineup of guest musicians on the album include: Elliott Levin
(Cecil Taylor, Marshall Allen) featured on "Birds Flower," and
"The Lonely Cobbler" playing flute and tenor saxophone, Jeff Oster on
three tracks including the piano/flugelhorn duet "Sepia Moon," Steve
Meashey on bass, and drummer/percussionist, J. Jody Janetta. The Cincinnati
Symphony principal bassist for 28 years, Barry Green, also contributes on "Which
You Which World."
On her
partnership with Janetta, Charlton recalls - "15 years ago I was a solo
classical pianist beginning to explore improvisation. Jody heard something in
my playing akin to the classically-influenced improvised music which had been a
big inspiration to him, and he asked me to perform. From the start, our musical
connection was magic. Jody introduced me to his jazz record collection and we
went on to perform as a piano-percussion duo for many years. We parted ways for a bit during the time of
my solo introspective releases - Red Leaf Grey Sky and River Flow, and have now
reunited for Maiden's Voyage. The one-take improvisation on "Beneath the
Dream" was the first track captured on the first day of recording, after
four years apart."
In addition
to seven originals, Maiden's Voyage features Charlton's lyrical improvisation
with Sun Ra-inspired chromatic complexity on Eden Ahbez's "Nature
Boy," "Adios Nonino" by Astor Piazzolla, Erik Satie's ethereal
"Gnossienne No. 4" and two deeply emotional versions of the standard
- "Autumn Leaves." The album's
only non-improvisatory piece is Alberto Ginastera's "Dance of the Graceful
Maiden (Danza de la moza donosa)," which marks the start of the pianist's
"voyage" from classical score interpretation to the seven spontaneous
compositions as well as the free improvisations spread throughout the album. A
highlight of these originals is the subdued solo piano piece "All That I
Feel."
Charlton
credits much of her approach to the teachings of long-time mentor and
inspiration - the cellist David Darling, and his organization Music for People.
Darling was hugely influential to a young Charlton in her earlier years, when
he told her that her passion and commitment to the moment was impressive.
Humbled by his words the pianist/composer has tried to live up them ever since.
Catherine
Marie Charlton's 2011 recording Red Leaf, Grey Sky won the Independent Music
Awards for Instrumental EP and was also awarded "Best Instrumental
Album-Piano" in the 8th Annual ZMR Awards, as voted on by broadcasters
worldwide. Most recently, she performed
on several tracks of Jeff Oster's Next (Bernard Purdie, Chuck Rainey, Nile
Rodgers, etc). A recipient of grants and
residencies from the Delaware Division of the Arts, Pennsylvania Council on the
Arts and the Brush Creek Foundation for the Arts, she is currently composing a
body of works inspired by the Wyeth family of artists in collaboration with the
Brandywine River Museum of Art. Charlton is a Steinway Artist.
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