Lara Downes Reflects on Scott Joplin

courtesy of Shuman Associates

The full title of pianist Lara Downes’ latest album is Reflections: Scott Joplin Reconsidered. These are not necessarily “by the book” accounts of the published sheet music of Joplin’s compositions, such as could be found when musicologist and pianist Joshua Rifkin “discovered” Joplin charts and released a series of albums for Nonesuch that assumed “hit record” status. (Sadly, none of them achieved Grammy-winning status, making year another brick in my wall of frustrations with the Grammy Awards!) The first of Rifkin’s albums preceded the commercial screening of the film The Sting, whose soundtrack consisted of arrangements of Joplin compositions by Marvin Hamlisch; and that film seems to have been responsible for Downes’ discovery of Joplin.

Roughly half of the tracks on Reflections are solo piano performances, which are basically as true to the charts as Rifkin’s recordings were. The remaining tracks involve “guest artists.” Most important is baritone Will Liverman, who sings the world premiere recording of “A Picture Of Her Face.” Joe Brent provides an almost cryptic vihuela solo, which serves as an introduction to “Solace” (which provided the “background” for one of the most engaging episodes in The Sting). He has a more significant presence in a delightful duo arrangement of “The Entertainer,” where he plays mandolin. The other instrumental soloist is Adam Abeshouse, who joins Downes for an amusingly engaging account of “Elite Syncopations” on violin.

Four of the tracks involve an ensemble called simply “The Band.” This brings Kevin Sun, alternating between clarinet and saxophone, together with the string quartet of violinists Judy Kang and Chiara Fasi, violist Tia Allen, and cellist Yves Dharamraj. On the last of these tracks, “A Real Slow Drag,” they are joined by the Brooklyn Youth Chorus. Finally, I would be remiss if I did not call out the “prepared piano” approach that Downes took to her solo account of “Eugenia.”

When I made the decision to give up all of my vinyls due to limited space in my San Francisco condominium, my two Rifkin albums fell by the wayside. My “primary reference” became Richard Zimmerman’s four-CD collection, Scott Joplin: His Complete Works. In that context Reflections was a well-needed reminder that the making of the music is sometimes more important than any “legacy of marks on paper.” Downes’ “reconsiderations” provide the attentive listener with a “snapshot” of some of those music-making activities.