PENTATONE releases This Land, together with pianist Lara Downes, in August 2024.
A Deeply Personal Collection Of American Music: A Path To Hope
This Land is a probing, nuanced reflection on the kaleidoscopic diversity of stories and journeys that have converged and collided throughout American history, from an artist renowned for her musical explorations off the beaten path. Downes celebrates the beauty of the American experiment while offering an unflinching acknowledgement of its flaws and failings, ultimately embracing the power of hope and humanity as a pathway to finding common ground and building a brighter future.
At the heart of this deeply personal collection is Edmar Colón’s radical new reimagining of George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, celebrating the centenary of its premiere while reflecting on an American century of immigration and transformation.
An iconoclast and trailblazer, Lara Downes’ dynamic work as a sought-after soloist, a Billboard Chart-topping recording artist, a producer, curator, arts activist and advocate positions her as a cultural visionary on the national arts scene. She was honored as 2022 Classical Woman of the Year by Performance Today. She returns to PENTATONE after her 2023 album Love at Last.
This land. It’s vast, around 3000 miles from sea to shining sea. A crazy quilt of irregular squares — dense cities, sprawling suburbs, and tiny towns. Mountains and canyons, deserts, forests and prairies, all stitched together along their seams by the rivers, the railroads and highways that move us around this land. It seems that we’re always on the move here in America, restless and roaming, following adventure and opportunity, looking for a place to call home, and seaking the road ahead.
And in these travels, our history is here to guide us. Looking backward, we see the path
that’s brought us to where we stand now, and then we turn and face forward,
and walk on.When the sun come shining, then I was strolling And the wheat fields waving, and the dust clouds rolling The voice was chanting as the fog was lifting
Lara Downes
This land was made for you and me
Digital Release Date: 23 AUGUST 2024
Physical Release: AUGUST 2024
Released as a Standard CD and in digital formats for streaming and high-resolution downloads
