Bernstein, Leonard (Lara Downes, Piano) / For Lenny
Album: For Lenny   Collection:Classical
Artist:Bernstein, Leonard (Lara Downes, Piano)   Added:Aug 2022
Label:Sony Classical  

A-File Activity
Add Date: 2022-10-12 Pull Date: 2022-12-14 Charts: Classical/Experimental
Week Ending: Nov 13
Airplays: 1

Recent Airplay
1. Nov 09, 2022: Virtually Happy
Abels: Iconoclasm for Lenny / Cool / Some Other Time (Arr. Distler)

Album Review
Gary Lemco
Reviewed 2022-08-29
In celebration of world-class musician, composer, conductor, and educator, Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990), pianist Lara Downes and interested friends recorded music based on Bernstein’s own compositions in 2017. The various riffs, arrangements, and improvisations derive from Bernstein’s
eclectic catalogue of piano music, Broadway shows, film scores, and TV appearances. Each contributor felt a deep gratitude for Bernstein’s multifarious identities, which crossed divisions of genre, style, audience, and sexual orientation.

The musical styles embrace jazz, scat, Gershwin, Broadway, and imitations of Bernstein’s own group of anniversary piano pieces that honor selected friends and influences. StephenSondheim served as lyricist for West Side Story. Lenny gave the world premiere in 1977 of John Corigliano’s Clarinet Concerto.
No. 18, A Simple Song, is derived from Bernstein’s Mass. Marc Blitzstein composed The Cradle Will Rock. Lukas Foss served as director of the Milwaukee Symphony. Craig Urquhart, pianist and composer, served as Leonard Bernstein’s assistant. No. 16 celebrates Felicia Montealegre, dancer and actress who married Lenny, knowing fully his predilection for men.

Track Listing
1. Bernstein: Something’s Coming by K.O. Olusola, Beatboxer (2:21)   15. Bernstein: Anniversary for Nina (1:59)
2. Corigliano: Anniversary for Lenny (1:41)   16. Bernstein: Anniversary for Felicia on Our 25th Birthday (1:26)
3. Schwartz: Anniversary for Lenny (1:47)   17. Bernstein: So Pretty, With Rhiannon Giddens, Soprano (2:27)
4. Sandesky: Romance for Lenny” (2:08)   18. Hagen: Anniversary in Memoriam (for Lenny) (3:34)
5. Abels: Iconoclasm for Lenny (3:29)   19. Bernstein: Anniversary for Lukas Foss (1:44)
6. Bernstein: Big Stuff (Arr. Luke Russell) (3:03)   20. Foss: For Lenny: Variation on New York, New York (1:54)
7. Bernstein: Anniversary for Johnny Mchegan ((0:46)   21. Gordon: What Shall We Remember? (4:12)
8. Bernstein: Anniversary for Aaron Copland (1:17)   22. Bernstein: A Simple Song W/thomas Hampson, Baritone (4:21)
9. Bernstein: Anniversary for Stephen Sondheim (1:27)   23. Ran: Exuberance (for Lenny) (0:58)
10. Sondheim: I Remember (Arr. Ethan Treiman) (2:08)   24. Bernstein: Anniversary for Craig Urquhart (1:11)
11. Bernstein: Cool by Javier Morales Martinez, Clarinet ((1:07)   25. Urquhart: Remembering Lenny (4:09)
12. Bernstein: The Story of My Life (Arr. Jed Distler) (2:34)   26. Bleckmann: Goodbye Chorale (for Lenny) (2:40)
13. Bernstein: Greeting (Arr. Downes) (2:16)   27. Rorem: Youth, Day, Old Age and Night (2:25)
14. Blitzstein: Innocent Psalm for the Bernstein Baby (1:12)   28. Bernstein: Some Other Time (Arr. Distler) (3:30)