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Clipper Erickson: My Cup Runneth Over: The Complete Piano Works of R. Nathaniel Dett
ByPianist Clipper Erickson assembles Dett's entire solo piano oeuvre on a slim two-disc set, My Cup Runneth Over: The Complete Piano Works of R. Nathaniel Dett. The result is over two hours of piano music that is so absolutely singular and so little known. Dett's music is not completely unknown in the marketplace. There is another, less complete survey of his piano music by pianist Denver Oldham released on New World Music in 1992 ( R. Nathaniel Dett: Piano Works), as well as, Dett's choral music: Listen to the Lambs: The Music of Nathaniel Dett (Marquis Music, 2003). Erickson's offering tops off the piano music and properly introduces us to the miscible musical interface between European and African-American classical musics.
It is tempting to assign Dett as a "missing link" in American music. He is that, or a traceable outlier. Franz Liszt and Frédéric Chopin (with a smidge of Schubert) are tangibly present. But then, so are Gottschalk, Joplin, Ellington, and Gershwin. But it is in fragrance only. The American elements found in Dett's piano music are potently there, but no overtly so. There are Jellyroll Morton voicings mixing with the church and blues. Dett takes a prominent place between Joplin and Ellington, with out-roads toward Edward McDowall. That said, this is music to be proud of as an American.
Track Listing
CD1: Magnolia; In the Bottoms; Enchantment; Nepenthe and the Muse; Cinnamon Grove. CD2: Tropic Winter; Eight Bible Vignettes; After the Cakewalk; Cave of the Winds; Inspiration Waltzes.
Personnel
Clipper Erickson: piano.
Album information
Title: My Cup Runneth Over: The Complete Piano Works of R. Nathaniel Dett | Year Released: 2016 | Record Label: Navona Records