The Composers
Gerry Bryant piano
Navona Records and pianist Gerry Bryant are proud to present THE COMPOSERS, an album consisting solely of music by exceptionally talented and prolific Black classical music composers who have been overlooked throughout history. Featured within are the works of Thomas “Blind Tom” Wiggins, a slave who was perhaps the first Black American classical music composer, and Florence Price, whose music has so moved Bryant that he has included her in his list of favorite composers. Violinist Mark Cargill joins Bryant on select works throughout the album, a perfect addition to Bryant’s passionate approach to the keys.
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Track Listing & Credits
| # | Title | Composer | Performer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Sonata in E Minor: II. | Florence Price | Gerry Bryant, piano | 7:13 |
| 02 | Andante Con Espressione | Florence Price | Gerry Bryant, piano; Mark Cargill, violin | 4:37 |
| 03 | Song Without Words | Florence Price | Gerry Bryant, piano | 2:13 |
| 04 | The Sewing Song | Thomas “Blind Tom” Wiggins | Gerry Bryant, piano | 8:24 |
| 05 | Placid Lake | Florence Price | Gerry Bryant, piano | 2:58 |
| 06 | The Deserted Garden | Florence Price | Gerry Bryant, piano; Mark Cargill, violin | 2:37 |
| 07 | Dark Pool | Florence Price | Gerry Bryant, piano | 3:35 |
| 08 | Wellenklange (Voice of the Waves) | Thomas “Blind Tom” Wiggins | Gerry Bryant, piano | 8:33 |
| 09 | Sketches in Sepia | Florence Price | Gerry Bryant, piano | 4:04 |
| 10 | O Holy Lord | Florence Price | Gerry Bryant, piano; Mark Cargill, violin | 4:12 |
| 11 | Honeysuckle | Florence Price | Gerry Bryant, piano | 1:50 |
| 12 | Water in the Moonlight | Thomas “Blind Tom” Wiggins | Gerry Bryant, piano | 3:28 |
| 13 | Lord I Want to Be a Christian | Florence Price | Gerry Bryant, piano; Mark Cargill, violin | 3:20 |
| 14 | Reve Charmant | Thomas “Blind Tom” Wiggins | Gerry Bryant, piano | 8:22 |
| 15 | Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child | Florence Price | Gerry Bryant, piano; Mark Cargill, violin | 5:14 |
Recorded January-November 2021 at CCI Media Studio in Gardena CA
Producers Gerry Bryant, Gregory Cook
Engineer Gregory Cook
Editing, Mixing & Mastering Gregory Cook
Album Cover Illustrator Valerie Hennessy
Album Cover Graphics Design Slick+Slicker Designs
Executive Producer Bob Lord
A&R Director Brandon MacNeil
VP of Production Jan Košulič
Audio Director Lucas Paquette
VP, Design & Marketing Brett Picknell
Art Director Ryan Harrison
Design Edward A. Fleming
Publicity Patrick Niland, Aidan Curran
Artist Information
Gerry Bryant
Gerry Bryant has been described by many as a renaissance man. Multi-talented Bryant graduated cum laude from both Phillips Andover Academy and Harvard, and received two graduate degrees (J.D. & M.B.A.) from UCLA. His musical influences range from masters of the Romantic Period in classical music (in particular Chopin, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff), to jazz legends Nat King Cole and Duke Ellington, to contemporary pianists Keith Jarrett and Ramsey Lewis. He describes his original music as “Third Stream,” a term coined in 1957 by composer Gunther Schuller to describe a musical genre that is a synthesis of classical music and jazz.
Notes
Whilst each of Gerry Bryant’s previous classical and jazz solo piano albums have included several tracks of romantic classical music by Bryant’s favorite composers (Chopin, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff topping that list), this album is intended to be the first in a series of albums consisting solely of music by exceptionally talented and prolific Black classical music composers who have been overlooked throughout history. Simply entitled THE COMPOSERS, this first album consists of a few selections by Thomas “Blind Tom” Wiggins, a slave who was perhaps the first Black American classical music composer, and the rest by Florence Price, whose music has so moved Bryant that he has included her in his list of favorite composers, along with the trio of historical, highly acclaimed white male composers mentioned above who are always reverently referred to by their last names only. Hopefully, Price will one day also attain that status and level of reverence.
