Love Walks Through Rain
Listening to Love Walks Through Rain is as easy as taking in a breeze, the instrumental piano magic just flows, eventually bringing a full spectrum of the quiet emotions. “It is often,” reflects World Renowned Pianist-Composer Ann Sweeten, “People ask me where I get my inspiration. As for me, the pieces almost seem to write themselves. I think it must be then, that the source is divine, and while I play one instrument, I become, yet another.”
Every track is unique, and each note brings a history. What I hear is music that reaches beyond New Age, and leans toward a classical piano crossover and neo-classical, a sound that, somehow transcends spiritual levels and transports the listener to a higher plane. Ann helps us feel all emotions with this album. Much of this album is written in honor of her beloved dogs that have emotionally carried her through some serious challenges in her life. Feel the transformative power of the artist’s perseverance and the spiritual medicine of the dogs’ energies.
Musician and spiritual healer Chakuna Machi Asa shares some of her thoughts, “Ann is one of the best at storytelling through her musical composition. If you simply enjoy connecting to nature or you have recently experienced deep grief from loss you will be soothed by the compassionate perseverance that is transmitted through these sounds. With the greatest joy in life, we often experience the greatest loss. But, most of us would agree that we would do it all over again, if we could, because it is love that makes life worth living.”
The dance between the higher piano melodies and the soft rhythmically slower tones of the other instruments helps the listener to experience feelings of relief, hope and calm. It embodies a respect for the good memories in life. Guest performers include Charlie Bisharat (Violin), Eugene Friesen (Cello), Nancy Rumbel (English Horn), Premik Russell-Tubbs (Akai EWI Wind Synthesizer, Soprano Saxophone), Will Ackerman (Guitar), Tom Eaton (Bass).
Sometimes when listening to Love Walks Through Rain, I cannot help myself from thinking about someone I love or care about, concentrating on the warm feelings and my desire for their well-being and happiness. Love is one of the strongest human emotions in existence. Love is the steady gait as we seek to navigate life’s ups and downs. Ann has a real life love story with Randy, they have been 33 years together, and for 24 of those years they have been Married as of this October. “There’s a lot you would find interesting with how Randy and I first met, how my recording career evolved and how his support and belief in me has been paramount. I would say truly that he is The Wind beneath my Wings!”
The first track sets the mood that warmly stays through the whole album, a fresh, slightly melancholic but always delightfully uplifting combination of feelings. Love is clearly the focus of this music. “Valley Greene” (4:22) lays out the terrain, this solo piano version speaks of showing that you care, of making someone feel special, telling them they are loved, and doing things for them.
Love transcends the human species, and includes many of our warmest canine companions. How do dogs show their affection? “Glimmer” (5:21) might refer to eyes that shine with a warm wavering light, the piano is joined by strings. The key is to maintain natural eye contact while you’re playing or just rubbing a furry back or nosey noggin. Now looking to the heavens above, “Seirios” (4:08) is the Greek name for Canis Majoris, the ancient Dog Star, sometimes known as Sirius. Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky and has been romanticized for millenia.
In the Northern Hemisphere, when the season turns cold, there are often six bright stars in the winter evening sky. Rigel of the constellation Orion the Hunter, Aldebaran of Taurus the Bull, Capella in Auriga the Charioteer, Pollux of Gemini the Twins, Procyon in Canis Minor the Lesser Dog, and Sirius in Canis Major, the Greater Dog. Behold “The Winter’s Circle” (5:33), an homage to those six stars in the darkest sky, also known as the Winter Hexagon. Sometimes on a dark and clear moonless night, you can see part of the softly glowing river of stars that we call the Milky Way, meandering right through the center of the Winter Hexagon. I think I hear a violin and the English Horn.
Perhaps we do best and feel a sense of joy when we see our partner happy, and when they are sad or depressed, we feel their blue mood, too. “Love Walks Through Rain” (4:54) sharing laughter and tears, the course of love never runs always easily. Now for the hardest of the emotions. A requiem is performed for the dead, “Red–Requiem for an Old Friend” (5:58) completes the circle of emotions, not all forms of love are the same. This track was inspired by a Red Maple that stood in the yard of her and her husband’s home for 40 years before it had to be cut down. The massive tree lived for two centuries and its root ball weighed over 5000 lbs.
Stepping back now, take a moment to indulge an ancestral instinct, finding a familiar path through “The Hills of Riversong” (5:32). I think that the music endeavors to capture the original voices and remain true to the ancients. As with any modern heartbreak, “The Shadow of You” (4:38) remains, sometimes we follow familiar shadows around and do the things that they used to do.
Dogs are furry snowflakes — no two are alike, and they spend such a short wondrous time with us. I know that dogs do love us, and they show it in a lot of different ways, while humans don’t usually question their own ability to love their dogs. On the track “Through Jasmine’s Eyes” (5:12) I hear sparkling runs, strings and a horn. The melody and twinkle of these sweet uplifting piano notes show the happy, pure and innocent nature of Jasmine’s personality. I remember my first dog, a thunderstorm of fuzzy playfulness, and how I would tell her my deepest childhood secrets. Emerging “Out of the Fog” (4:42) the guest musicians blend their instrumental voices with the piano, like water, with Saxophone (Premik Russel-Tubbs), Bass (Tom Eaton), & Guitar (Will Ackerman). Like a sunset, the colors change and bring new feelings, I hear layers of quietly energetic positive intricate full-hearted and beautiful sensations.
The album closes, like bookends, with “Valley Greene Orchestral Reprise” (4:26). I hear the marvelous violin, echoing phrases, with the supporting cello and calming English Horn. Each time I listen, I find that Love Walks Through the Rain is a deeply soul-stirring experience that envelops me in a blanket of lush, melodic reverie bringing strong and positive emotional and mental states. The feeling grows steadily, with strength and courage, and emerges, out of the misty fog, and on into the light.
Ann was a successful ballet dancer earlier in her life, gracing the stage in Swan Lake, Les Symphides and Sleeping Beauty. One can feel that kind of exquisite, free-flowing coryphee movement in her music here, which sweeps across our souls, reminding us that life is a dance, and sometimes we must endure the searing pain of loss to experience the greater rewards these experiences offer in abundance.
Track Listing:
1 Valley Greene 4:22
2 Glimmer 5:21
3 Seirios 4:08
4 The Winter’s Circle 5:33
5 Love Walks Through Rain 4:54
6 Red–Requiem for an Old Friend 5:58
7 The Hills of Riversong 5:32
8 The Shadow of You 4:38
9 Through Jasmine’s Eyes 5:12
10 Out of the Fog 4:42
11 Valley Greene Orchestral Reprise 4:26
https://annsweeten.hearnow.com/
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