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Gracias A La Vida by Jason Yeager

From the album

Album Title: New Songs of Resistance
Label: Outside in Music
Released: 2019

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About the Album

"New Songs of Resistance" is an artful musical response to today’s undeniable political and social tensions. As interpreted through the penetrating vision of Yeager, a pianist, composer and arranger of uncommon skill and inventiveness, the album makes stunning use of three distinctive vocalists and a host of agile instrumentalists to assert its positive message of defiance and unity. Yeager blends his own compositions–instrumentals, and others with original lyrics–with songs by the celebrated Latin American composers Chico Buarque, Violeta Parra, Victor Jara, and León Gieco. Maintaining the original Spanish and Portuguese lyrics for these works as a token of respect and solidarity, Yeager aligns the anger and confusion felt by the peoples of both the United States and Latin America. Suffused with rage yet also infused with courage, "New Songs of Resistance" attempts to speak truth through the power of music. Utilizing the expressive vocals of Erini, Farayi Malek, and Mirella Costa, the clarinets of Matthew Stubbs, the trumpet of Cosimo Boni, the flugelhorn of Milena Casado and the cello of Naseem Alatrash alongside the electric bass of Fernando Huergo, the drums and percussion of Grammy winner Mark Walker, and the leader’s adroit piano work, Yeager constructs an atypical and alluring musical palette. Although he speaks of Danilo Pérez, Edward Simon, Miguel Zenón and Guillermo Klein as models of composers who have integrated jazz, Latin, and chamber music, Yeager’s work as a composer-arranger has a style of its own, one that honors the overall shape of a piece rather than spotlighting any particular soloist. Even his own skill as a pianist is thoroughly and intentionally assimilated into the fabric of the music.

Tracks

Gracias A La Vida; The Facts; Somos Cinco Mil; Interlude: Uncovering; Aqui Me Quedo; Mother Earth; In Search of Truth; Interlude: Resistance; Cinco Siglos Igual; Protest; Reckoning; Interlude: Factitudes; Apesar de Voce

Personnel

Jason Yeager

piano

Additional Personnel

Jason Yeager: piano; Fernando Huergo: electric bass; Mark Walker: drums and percussion; Erini: voice (1, 3, 5, 9); Farayi Malek: voice (2, 7, 11); Mirella Costa: voice (13); Milena Casado: flugelhorn (1, 5, 9); Cosimo Boni: trumpet (2, 6); Matthew Stubbs: clarinet, bass clarinet (1, 2, 5, 9, 11); Naseem Alatrash: cello (1, 3, 5, 9)

Date featured

November 1, 2019

This song appears by permission of the contributing artist and/or record company.
It is for personal use only; no other rights are granted or implied.

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