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Citizen / Bruce Levingston
Sono Luminus

Citizen / Bruce Levingston

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Details

Composer
VARIOUS
Artist
Bruce Levingston
Format
CD
Label
Sono Luminus
Released
Jan 25, 2019
Catalog #
DSL-92228
UPC
053479222824

About

"Levingston plays with a marvelous sense of pacing, emphasis, and balance. These renditions are full of thought; and, since he is completely beyond technique, he can express whatever he wants. The resonant sound of the piano is a pleasure to hear…."
--American Record Guide May/ June 2019

"Most of the music on this CD is slow, quiet, and spare, yet giving yourself over to it for even a portion of its 71-minute running time is profoundly cathartic. The piano recording has exceptional presence with an excellent sense of the instrument’s volume.”

MUSIC: FIVE Stars SONICS: FIVE Stars

--THE ABSOLUTE SOUND May-June 2019 

Bruce Levingston writes of his new release: “The genesis of this recording was an invitation to perform for the opening of the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, an event which inspired me to meditate on the complex history of my birthplace, Mississippi. A storied, culturally-rich state, it has produced some of our country’s most important artists – including William Faulkner, B.B. King, Leontyne Price, and Eudora Welty – but is also a place that has witnessed notably painful struggles with race, poverty, and equality. The scars are painful and deep. Here, among our colleges, churches, cotton fields and battlefields, contradictions abound. These disparate, but related, elements have long absorbed and confounded artists born in this mystical place. In recent years, I have come to see that my beloved state only reveals more intensely what exists in other places in our world: the struggle for people to come to terms with one another’s histories and differences. In this time of turmoil between peoples and nations, focused on issues of citizenship and patriotism, we continue this struggle. I chose to name this album “Citizen,” not only because it contains works that reflect upon actual citizenship and human rights, but also to highlight that we are all citizens of one earth, and in order to survive, we must find ways to respect one another’s differences, and strongly uphold each other’s right to exist with dignity and freedom. On this recording, I have gathered together works by composers who have contemplated these issues deeply. The voices of these artists plead for civility, humanity, and love, and each brings a sense of immediacy to the cause – offering not a clenched fist, but an open hand that reaches out with a welcoming embrace.”

An absorbing musical study of citizenship and human rights.
— Apple - iTunes A List

"The mix of compositions both contemporary and Romantic, American and European, old and new featured in this recording is brilliantly played, amply justified, and insightfully annotated in straightforward prose by the ever questing Bruce Levingston….This CD’s gathering of voices that celebrate the civility and brotherly love quintessential to what is American or more simply put, what it means to be a member of the human race, is a noble undertaking underpinned by the artistic excellence and commitment of its curator and pianist, Bruce Levingston, a notable artist who brings the album to an end with a profoundly touching AMAZING GRACE.

—All About The Arts Rafael de Acha

"Levingston’s playing is lithe and full-voiced throughout. He has an admirable ability to preserve the clarity of each strand in a densely woven contrapuntal texture, crafting a compelling whole without obscuring its parts. His phrasing is subtle, nuanced shadings of tone playing against each other to illuminate the underlying musical structure...expert control... Citizen adds to a much-needed conversation…."

--National Sawdust Log

The final tracks go to Price Walden whose Sacred Spaces is a profoundly moving remembrance of the countless churches where AfricanAmericans gathered and contributed to their sense of community. His arrangement of Amazing Grace closes the recording. It’s a straightforward structure that uses some extraordinary harmonic transitions to make this iconic hymn even more meaningful in the context of the disc. This recording by Bruce Levingston is far more than a simple CD. It’s a meditation on one of the central issues of our time and can only benefit from being heard and experienced in that way. 

—The Whole Note ( March 2019 )

Tracklist 17 tracks

  1. 1 American Citizen 10:00
    Track
    1
    Title
    American Citizen
    Duration
    10:00
    Composer
    Nolan Gasser
    Performer
    Bruce Levingston
  2. 2 3 Visions: No. 2. Summerland 04:53
    Track
    2
    Title
    3 Visions: No. 2. Summerland
    Duration
    04:53
    Composer
    William Grant Still
    Performer
    Bruce Levingston
  3. 3 Mazurka No. 2 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 6, No. 2 03:11
    Track
    3
    Title
    Mazurka No. 2 in C-Sharp Minor, Op. 6, No. 2
    Duration
    03:11
    Composer
    Frédéric Chopin
    Performer
    Bruce Levingston
  4. 4 Mazurka No. 15 in C Major, Op. 24, No. 2 02:31
    Track
    4
    Title
    Mazurka No. 15 in C Major, Op. 24, No. 2
    Duration
    02:31
    Composer
    Frédéric Chopin
    Performer
    Bruce Levingston
  5. 5 Mazurka No. 13 in A Minor, Op. 17, No. 4 06:00
    Track
    5
    Title
    Mazurka No. 13 in A Minor, Op. 17, No. 4
    Duration
    06:00
    Composer
    Frédéric Chopin
    Performer
    Bruce Levingston
  6. 6 I. Reveille 04:19
    Track
    6
    Title
    I. Reveille
    Duration
    04:19
    Composer
    David T. Little
    Performer
    Bruce Levingston
  7. 7 II. Ride 01:28
    Track
    7
    Title
    II. Ride
    Duration
    01:28
    Composer
    David T. Little
    Performer
    Bruce Levingston
  8. 8 III. Reveille 00:47
    Track
    8
    Title
    III. Reveille
    Duration
    00:47
    Composer
    David T. Little
    Performer
    Bruce Levingston
  9. 9 IV. Accumulation of Purpose 04:12
    Track
    9
    Title
    IV. Accumulation of Purpose
    Duration
    04:12
    Composer
    David T. Little
    Performer
    Bruce Levingston
  10. 10 V. Reveille 01:02
    Track
    10
    Title
    V. Reveille
    Duration
    01:02
    Composer
    David T. Little
    Performer
    Bruce Levingston
  11. 11 VI. Nocturne 03:17
    Track
    11
    Title
    VI. Nocturne
    Duration
    03:17
    Composer
    David T. Little
    Performer
    Bruce Levingston
  12. 12 No. 1. Other 02:57
    Track
    12
    Title
    No. 1. Other
    Duration
    02:57
    Composer
    Augusta Gross
    Performer
    Bruce Levingston
  13. 13 No. 2. Elegy 04:08
    Track
    13
    Title
    No. 2. Elegy
    Duration
    04:08
    Composer
    Augusta Gross
    Performer
    Bruce Levingston
  14. 14 No. 3. Toward Night 05:06
    Track
    14
    Title
    No. 3. Toward Night
    Duration
    05:06
    Composer
    Augusta Gross
    Performer
    Bruce Levingston
  15. 15 Prelude and Chaconne 08:59
    Track
    15
    Title
    Prelude and Chaconne
    Duration
    08:59
    Composer
    C. Price Walden
    Performer
    Bruce Levingston
  16. 16 Hymn (This World Is My Home) 05:13
    Track
    16
    Title
    Hymn (This World Is My Home)
    Duration
    05:13
    Composer
    C. Price Walden
    Performer
    Bruce Levingston
  17. 17 Amazing Grace (arr. P. Walden for piano) 03:22
    Track
    17
    Title
    Amazing Grace (arr. P. Walden for piano)
    Duration
    03:22
    Composer
    Traditional
    Performer
    Bruce Levingston