Beloved of the Sky

"For those not familiar with the Tyner-esque bop flourish and Horace Silver-like subtlety of Canadian pianist/composer Renee Rosnes, then the rollicking Beloved of the Sky may be the disc to begin the discovery." -- Mike Jurkovic, All About Jazz, 29 May 2018 "Few jazz pianists are as scarily satisfying. Even when the tempo goes down a notch the intensity remains. The fast numbers may bubble, but the slower ones simmer." -- Chris Pearson, The Times (UK), 4 May 2018 The worth of a thing is not only to be found in its bottom-line value. That’s the idea at the heart of Canadian artist Emily Carr’s painting “Scorned as Timber, Beloved of the Sky,” which depicts a solitary tree, rejected by loggers who have clear-cut its neighbors, stretching improbably but majestically into the heavens. It’s a sentiment that resonates deeply with pianist/composer Renee Rosnes. On her album, BELOVED OF THE SKY--where Carr’s painting provides the inspiration for the title track, album title, and cover art--Rosnes explores the beauty and wonder to be found in life’s more elusive, intangible joys. The album’s nine pieces ruminate on pleasures and inspirations that don’t come with a price tag--the splendor of nature, the mysteries of the universe, the comforts of home, the treasured memories of lost loved ones, the simple warmth of an inside joke. BELOVED OF THE SKY also celebrates the chemistry and discovery made possible by a band of truly remarkable musicians: saxophonist Chris Potter, vibraphonist Steve Nelson, bassist Peter Washington, and drummer Lenny White. “The beautiful thing about working with such masters,” Rosnes says, “is that when we play new music, they all bring their wealth of experience, taste, skill and imagination to the music. It’s exciting for me as a composer to write something and then see how it blossoms, because inevitably it’s going to sound a little different than what I imagined – in a great way.”