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Jeni Slotchiver

American Heritage

zoho

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1 Deep River  
2 Troubled Water  
3 From the Southland 1. Through Moanin' Pines  
4 From the Southland 2. The Frolic  
5 From the Southland In de Col' Moonlight  
6 From the Southland 4. A Jubilee  
7 From the Southland 5. On Bended Knees  
8 From the Southland 6. A New Hiding Place  
9 Union, Paraphrase de Concert op. 48  
10 The Banjo, Grotesque Fantasie, op 15  
11 Dances in the Canebreaks 1. Nimble Feet  
12 Dances in the Canebreaks 2. Tropical Noon  
13 Dances in the Canebreaks 3. Silk Hat and Walking Cane  
14 Dance - Juba  
15 The Blues, from Lenox Avenue  
16 Shenandoah  
17 Down By the Riverside  
18 Swanee River  
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Following the success of the Busoni The Visionary series, Jeni is humbled to introduce something so intimately close to home. With Southern roots of her own, Ms. Slotchiver's debut ZOHO CD release American Heritage is her homage to the legendary composers preserving American folk music and creating anew. What was once familiar, is reborn.

Spanning 125 years, from Louis Moreau Gottschalk's The Banjo (ca. 1854-5) to Frederic Rzewski's Down by the riverside (1979), American Heritage presents piano compositions by composers of concert music, inspired by the melodies, dance rhythms, harmonic inventions and various stylistic elements evocative of the American experience. Of the eight composers represented, six are of African descent and two of these are women. There are quotes from spirituals, use of the African American pentatonic scale, the African call and response structure popularized in southern church tradition, polyphonic rhythms of jazz, and the rich, sultry harmonies of blues. With the exception of the rich musical heritage of Indigenous people, the largest and most important American folkloric body of work arrived on American shores with the first enslaved African people. 

  • Jeni Slotchiver interviews with New Jersey Net
    Posted At: April 12, 2021 12:00 AM

    Following the success of the Busoni The Visionary series, Jeni Slotchiver is humbled to introduce something so intimately close to home. With Southern roots of her own, Ms. Slotchiver's debut ZOHO CD release American Heritage is her homage to the legendary composers preserving American folk music and creating anew. What was once familiar, is reborn. Spanning 125 year...
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  • On 'American Heritage' Jeni Slotchiver pays homage to those composers who embody the African-American musical tradition / Fanfare
    Posted At: April 6, 2021 12:00 AM

    Pianist Jeni Slotchiver wishes to pay homage to those composers who embody the African-American musical tradition, as well as to Union army hymns. Slotchiver plays arrangements of sea shanties, secular songs and dances, and transcriptions of blues, gospel, and spiritual classics. Six of the composers share African descent, and two of the composers are women.  Slotchiver opens with a lulling, leg...
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  • Jeni Slotchiver's 'American Heritage' speaks to an expansive journey into the past / HollywoodSoapbox
    Posted At: March 3, 2021 12:00 AM

    HollywoodSoapbox - John Soltes writes......Celebrated pianist Jeni Slotchiver has built a career out of musical exploration. She has interpreted many well-known composers in the classical music realm, particularly from the 20th century. Her new project is a survey of songs from the vast African-American musical tradition. Her album's title speaks to this expansive journey into the past: American Her...
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  • Jeni Slotchiver delivers a well chosen and intriguing program on 'American Heritage' / SHARPS & FLATIRONS
    Posted At: February 24, 2021 12:00 AM

    SHARPS & FLATIRONS - Peter Alexander writes......One of the perks of job that I do is that people send me recordings. They want me to review or write about them. Sometimes they come in the U.S. mail, actual CDs. Sometimes they come in the form of links to Mp3 files, although I prefer not to review those because the sound quality of CDs is better. Sometimes I write and ask for a CD instead, ...
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  • Jeni Slotchiver joins FM91: Toledo for an engaging conversation on 'American Heritage'
    Posted At: February 1, 2021 12:00 AM

    Spanning 125 years, from Louis Moreau Gottschalk's The Banjo (ca. 1854-5) to Frederic Rzewski's Down by the riverside (1979), American Heritage presents piano compositions by composers of concert music, inspired by the melodies, dance rhythms, harmonic inventions and various stylistic elements evocative of the American experience. Of the eight composers represen...
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  • Jeni Slotchiver - American Heritage takes you to a different world of patience and space / Jazz Weekly
    Posted At: January 22, 2021 12:00 AM

    Following the success of the Busoni The Visionary series, Jeni Slotchiver is humbled to introduce something so intimately close to home. With Southern roots of her own, Ms. Slotchiver's debut ZOHO CD release American Heritage is her homage to the legendary composers preserving American folk music and creating anew. What was once familiar, is reborn. Spanning 125 year...
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  • From the civil war to civil rights, Jeni Slotchiver talks about 'American Heritage' with 90.1WUSB
    Posted At: January 22, 2021 12:00 AM

    90.1WUSB - Stony Brook NY, Captain Phil writes.....Following the success of the Busoni The Visionary series, Jeni is humbled to introduce something so intimately close to home. With Southern roots of her own, Ms. Slotchiver's debut ZOHO CD release American Heritage presents compositions that honor the vast African-American musical tradition as well as Union army hymns from the Civil War. There are contem...
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  • Jeni Slotchiver discusses 'American Heritage' with Spokane Public Radio
    Posted At: January 5, 2021 12:00 AM

    Following the success of the Busoni The Visionary series, Jeni Slotchiver introduced something so intimately close to home. With Southern roots of her own, Slotchiver's debut on ZOHO is 'American Heritage,' her homage to the legendary composers preserving American folk music and creating anew. What was once familiar, is reborn. Spanning 125 years, from Louis ...
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  • Jeni Slotchiver - American Heritage makes 'Manao Radio: Year-end Catches of the Day'
    Posted At: December 30, 2020 12:00 AM

    "Catch of the Day" is Matthew Gurewitsch's 90-minute sampler of recent recordings, with off-the-cuff commentary, reminiscences, and free association. It airs at noon Hawaiian time the first and last Sunday of each month as part of Paul Janes-Brown's "Alpha & Omega Show" on KMNO, Manao Radio 91.7 FM, an all-volunteer station in Wailuku. Herewith are Matthew's comments on his final show...
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  • Harmonious World Podcast interviews Jeni Slotchiver and calls 'American Heritage' a launch pad album
    Posted At: December 24, 2020 12:00 AM

    Following the success of the Busoni The Visionary series, Jeni Slotchiver introduced something so intimately close to home. With Southern roots of her own, Slotchiver's debut ZOHO CD release American Heritage is her homage to the legendary composers preserving American folk music and creating anew. What was once familiar, is reborn. Spanning 125 years, from ...
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  • Jeni Slotchiver preserves the heritage of African-American composers with poetic and spiritual renditions / TAKE EFFECT
    Posted At: November 26, 2020 12:00 AM

    The piano extraordinaire Jeni Slotchiver returns with a tribute to legendary composers in the area of folk music, where she reworks traditional and folk songs with her always exceptional and profoundly stirring key work. A very relevant record with America undergoing a civiil rights movement, Slotchiver pays homage to primarily African-American composers here, as she preserves their heritage with these p...
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  • Jeni Slotchiver invites you to open the door to the past on 'American Heritage' / Russell Trunk's Exclusive magazine
    Posted At: November 10, 2020 12:00 AM

    If you are not in the know, in a socio-politically charged year when our understanding of African American history has been in the spotlight and challenged like few times in the past, music can serve as a great instructor.   If you think you know American Music, veteran NY based classical pianist and well-traveled concert performer Jeni Slotchiver invites you to open the door to the past dee...
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  • On 'American Heritage,' Jeni Slotchiver's technique and emotional delivery celebrates music from the Civil War to Civil Rights / Muscialmemoirs
    Posted At: November 9, 2020 12:00 AM

    Here is an artistic perspective by pianist Jeni Slotchiver that spans 125 years of music, from Louis Moreau Glottschalk's "The Banjo," written in the 1800's, to "Down By the Riverside" published in 1979.  Glottschalk's compositions and style predated the era and birth of Ragtime and jazz and was influenced by Caribbean, Latin and African music, as well of slave songs and rhythms.  Jeni uses her...
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  • Jeni Slotchiver's playing is persuasive on 'American Heritage' / theartsdesk
    Posted At: October 31, 2020 12:00 AM

    The works on Jeni Slotchiver's wide-ranging anthology span 125 years, from Louis Gottschalk to Frederic Rzewski. Eight composers are represented, six of which are of African descent, two of whom are women. Gottschalk's The Banjo is a four minute romp, an early example of a composer's assimilation of African American music. Florence Price's Dances in the Canebreaks, played at last Monday&#...
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  • Jeni Slotchiver examines her own southern roots on 'American Heritage' / Midwest Record
    Posted At: October 30, 2020 12:00 AM

    A skillful and daring classical pianist that doesn't play just for eggheads examines her own southern roots on this set that recasts southern work tunes, folk songs and more into a solo piano recital that covers the water front from the civil war to civil rights.  Even enlisting Keith Jarrett to arrange with her on a chestnut, this is a graceful and moving set of renditions that has much more blood ...
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  • Jeni Slotchiver's 'American Heritage' presents compositions that honor the vast African-American musical tradition / INFEMITY
    Posted At: October 28, 2020 12:00 AM

    Following the success of the Busoni The Visionary series, American pianist Jeni Slotchiver has released a new album this month. With Southern roots of her own, Ms. Slotchiver's debut ZOHO CD release American Heritage presents compositions that honor the vast African-American musical tradition as well as Union army hymns from the Civil War. There are contemporary arrangements and harmonizations of sea sha...
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  • Jeni Slotchiver - American Heritage is a homage to the legendary composers of American traditional folk music / JP's Music Blog
    Posted At: October 25, 2020 12:00 AM

    Famed classical pianist Jeni Slotchiver recently released her ZOHO label debut album "American Heritage." It is a homage to the legendary composers of American traditional folk music. Jeni's new eighteen track release begins with the beautifully elegant delivery of Samuel Coleridge Taylor's (1875-1912) "Deep River." She performs a spiritual version of Harry Thacker Burleigh's (1866-1949) six-...
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  • Jeni Slotchiver - American Heritage is bustling beautiful American piano / Contemporary Fusion Reviews
    Posted At: October 22, 2020 12:00 AM

    With the abundance of jazz and blues that slides into my mailbox every week, it's sometimes easy to forget the bustling and beautiful American piano that much of our musical heritage comes from. Don't let words like "heritage" discourage you from diving deep into her boundless piano energy… her performance of Harry Thacker Burleigh's 5:07 "Troubled Water" (based on "Wade In The Water") is full-bod...
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  • Jeni Slotchiver - American Heritage' is a beautiful and moving album / Michael Doherty's Music Log
    Posted At: October 22, 2020 12:00 AM

    As we near the election, with hope of setting the country on a better path, tensions are high. We are worried that if things go wrong, as they did in 2016, that the country might never recover, that this horror show might become our permanent identity. And meanwhile, most of the things we would turn to in times of crisis – family gatherings, concerts, baseball games, theatre – are not availab...
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  • Jeni Slotchiver - American Heritage is a valuable reference resource; and makes an excellent case for music that deserves more attention / The Rehearsal Studio
    Posted At: October 19, 2020 12:00 AM

    Earlier this month Zoho (last discussed this past May for its release of two albums of guitarist Sharon Isbin) released its first CD of solo piano music performed by Jeni Slotchiver. The title of the album is American Heritage, and it surveys 125 years of music by American composers. The "early bookend" for this recording is the nineteenth-century composer Louis Moreau Gottschalk, represented by one of h...
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  • On 'American Heritage,' Jeni Slotchiver invites you to open the door to the past / THE JW VIBE
    Posted At: October 19, 2020 12:00 AM

    In a socio-politically charged year when our understanding of African American history has been in the spotlight and challenged like few times in the past, music can serve as a great instructor. If you think you know American Music, veteran NY based classical pianist and well-traveled concert performer Jeni Slotchiver invites you to open the door to the past deeper than you ever might have imagined on Am...
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