Ted Hearne - Difficult Grace - COMPACT DISCS [CD]

Difficult Grace, based on GRAMMY Award-nominated cellist Seth Parker Woods' multimedia concert tour de force, conceived by and featuring Woods in the triple role of cellist, narrator/guide, and movement artist, is Woods' debut album for Cedille Records. Hailed by The Guardian as Incha cellist of power and graceInch who possesses Inchmature artistry and willingness to go to the brink,Inch Woods has established a reputation as a versatile performer straddling several genres. He is the recipient of the 2022 Chamber Music America Michael Jaffee Visionary Award. Difficult Grace is a semi-autobiographical exploration of identity; past/present histories and personal growth that draws inspiration from the Great Migration; the historic newspaper, The Chicago Defender; immigration; and poetry by Kemi Alabi and Dudley Randall. The album features music written for and with Woods including the world premiere recording of the title work, Difficult Grace, by Fredrick Gifford (b. 1972) that layers solo cello, electronics, and spoken text (delivered by Woods) derived from Dudley Randall's poem, InchPrimitives.Inch Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson's (1932-2004) InchCalvary Ostinato,Inch the all-plucked third movement from Lamentations Black/Folk Song Suite, references traditional African American music. Additional world premiere recordings include Monty Adkins' (b. 1972) Winter Tendrils and Nathalie Joachim's (b. 1983) The Race 1915. Alvin Singleton's (b. 1940) Argoru II and Joachim's Dam Mwen Yo, featuring Joachim as vocalist, follow. The program ends with a final world premiere Ted Hearne's (b. 1982) multi-movement, Freefucked, a suite of songs set to poems by Kemi Alabi, featuring Hearne on vocals and electronics on the final track, InchAfter We Ruin.Inch In it's review of the live performance of Difficult Grace, The New York Times described Woods as Incha cellist of prodigious technica