Ann Sweeten EPK
Love Walks Through Rain
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Credits
PERFORMANCES IN ORDER OF APPEARANCE
Ann Sweeten
Steinway Baby Grand, Model B
Charlie Bisharat – Violin
Glimmer, The Winter’s Circle
The Hills of Riversong,
Valley Greene Orchestral Reprise
Tom Eaton – Bass
Glimmer, Red – Requiem for an Old Friend,
Out of the Fog
Premik Russell-Tubbs – EWI, Soprano Saxophone
Seirios, Love Walks Through Rain,
Out of the Fog
Eugene Friesen – Cello
Seirios, Red – Requiem for an Old Friend,
Through Jasmine’s Eyes,
Valley Greene Orchestral Reprise
Nancy Rumbel – English Horn
The Winter’s Circle, Red – Requiem for an Old Friend,
Through Jasmine’s Eyes, Valley Greene Orchestral Reprise
Will Ackerman – Guitar
Out of the Fog
About
Ann Sweeten’s newest release, Love Walks Through Rain, is a deeply soul-stirring experience that envelops the listener in a blanket of lush, melodic reverie. While consistent with her world-renowned signature style, Love Walks Through Rain transcends spiritual levels and transports the listener to a higher plane.
Album Notes
“I have always said that our dogs were the bookmarks in the chapters of our lives, much as my music carries the joy and pain contained in those chapters. Love Walks Through Rain is one such bookmark.
As the Summer draws to an end and the long shadows of Autumn grace the hills, I find it hard to believe so much has changed since last year. In 2021, we lost our Jazzy and 10 months later, our Remy. Jazzy was nearing 14 and her body just gave out on her, though her wonderful and willful spirit was there till the very end. Remy was only 8 and September 28th of last year would be the beginning of Remy’s last 5 months. No one saw it coming, we fought the good fight, until it became apparent, we had to let him go. But during those months, hope took us by the hand and that hope for Remy, that Glimmer, became my muse.
It wasn’t until 7 months after Jazzy left us, that I was able to write her song, Through Jasmine’s Eyes, and this was also during Remy’s radiation. In late November he was home to stay and I wrote 5 more pieces while he lay by my piano. After his passing, I could no longer compose either. But when we came up to our vacation home, where they loved to roam the hills and bask in the sun of 3 seasons, inspiration came again and The Hills of Riversong was born.
After that came Love Walks through Rain, Seirios (Dog Star) and Out of the Fog. Seirios is part of The Winter Circle constellation and Orion is also in the constellation: Seirios is believed to be his dog. This star, the brightest star in the Earth’s night sky, is a glowing tribute to one of God’s most wonderful creatures and it seemed fitting, it be a part of this album.
After Remy’s treatment, we had a routine and every night I’d sit on the floor with him, cuddle and talk, stroke his head and hold his paw – it’s a very special memory. But one night in early February, it struck me that he was changing before my eyes: The Shadow of You, was the last piece I would write before he died.”
REMY
3/3/22
An angel’s kiss blew across the sea,
A gift from Gloucester, our Remy to be.
He touched our hearts with just a smile,
And life was sweeter, but, for a while.
You journeyed miles through storm-clad skies,
At last touched down and graced our lives.
Three glory years your spirit shone!
And love and laughter – those seeds were sown.
In our hearts joy did abound,
Your gentle voice the dearest sound.
Sweet slumber under sapphire skies,
Cool grasses born to tantalize
Waving in the Summer’s light,
Days of caressing, pastoral delight.
One fateful autumn night, a crowning blow,
To learn that which we could never know.
Through your treatment you soldiered on,
Brave Remy, loved by all here and yon.
Hope kept us afloat as we prayed for time,
And Fall became a Winter’s clime.
A Shadow of you began to appear
And with its arrival, countless tears.
We had done all that could be done;
The race to save you had long been run.
Evening talks, hand and paw enlaced,
I stroke your head and your sweet face.
We didn’t see the hourglass’s sand,
You drift to sleep, we understand.
Only to please, my belov’d Boy Blue,
Only to love in colorful hues.
But God had other plans for you,
As weeks and days dwindled down to few.
Your sweet and gentle soul, God speed,
Look down upon us now, and heed:
Inside our hearts you will reside,
Forever on, as turn the tides.
Star night, star bright, my Remy sleeps tonight.
A.S.
THROUGH JASMINE’S EYES
5/1/21
With Lilacs’ scent amidst the air,
Breezes caress your face with care.
The sky bursts forth a sapphire blue,
While Jasmine awaits a Godly hue.
One last dish of Haagen-Dazs.
One last ride and one last walk
Now back at home,
We sit and talk.
I hold your paws and kiss your face,
My little husky born of grace.
We cuddle close, hold strong and fast
To fleeting moments while they last.
Coups, quirks, tricks, and antics too,
So full of Mirth and joyful, YOU!
You gave your sweetness to all you met
A selflessness hard to forget.
Yet days of youth are long since past
And the time has come, the die is cast.
A stronger will I’ve never known
A pride so fierce, solid as stone
Through everything you soldiered on,
Your inspiration never gone.
Sweet fleur-de-lis, my Jazzy fair,
Through your eyes, no worldly cares…
Delight and wonder everywhere,
Embracing all God’s earthly wares.
Our special bond, a treasure trove,
Filled with gifts you gently wove.
You gave me love, laughter and smiles
For Thirteen years – the sweetest miles.
A gentle soul so genuine and true
A noble spirit with eyes of blue.
Fly free at last my little dove,
Go with God to Peace above.
And tho’ for now, we are apart,
Forever I will hold you in my heart.
And then one day, my Jazzy dear,
We’ll meet again and Skies will clear;
My tears that flow like falling rain
Will ebb, and we will sing again.
God Speed my Little Husky, I love you so.
A.S.
“Not long ago, we had a majestic Red Maple in our yard and we had tended it for close to 40 years as it graced us with shade in summer, flaming leaves in Autumn, shelter in Spring and strength in Winter when its branches seemed to reach for the falling snow. All our dogs have always loved to lie beneath.
As with all life, there comes an end and sadly the tree became diseased and was taken down. This beauty was over 200 years old, 45’ in height and 12’ in circumference. It broke my heart to see them cut it down and dig out the root ball which weighed over 5,000 pounds. This tree witnessed so many lives over two centuries, the thought is staggering. “Red” – Requiem for an Old Friend was written in its honor.
In closing, I decided to name the album, Love Walks Through Rain, because it well describes this chapter of my life. There has always been plenty of love, tho’ fret with many storms such as battling Cancer for over 20 years. But Love keeps you going and I have been blessed in that: my husband has always been right by my side. Love is the steady gait as we seek to navigate life’s ups and downs. And my love for my dogs and their love for me, will always warm my heart and cocoon my soul.”
Blessings,
Ann Sweeten
Praise for Love Walks Through Rain
Ann Sweeten’s gloriously composed and performed album Love Walks Through Rain is a project that will make you wish we were back in the 90s, when the multi-faceted Steinway artist first started hitting the Top 5 on the NAR and ZMR radio charts – and creative packaging, art direction and liner notes were as much a part of the artists’ expression as the songs on the album.
Stated simply, Love Walks Through Rain is one of the most heartrending, emotionally hard hitting piano driven albums in years, showing us that, even amidst the shadows of melancholy and heartbreak that seem to be a necessary part of the journey, life is still very much worth living.
Jonathan Widran – THE JW VIBE
BRILLIANT HEARTWARMING PIANO ALBUM
Love Walks Through Rain is an exceptional work of art. Ann is one of the best at story telling 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. This message is conveyed strong and clear throughout the album, including in the beautiful poems, of the liner notes. Ann’s many fans will be delighted with this new work, evidence that her energy is strong despite her heroic battle against cancer and leukemia.
Chakuna Machi Asa
Sweeten has a special gift for translating emotion into musical form. While her music is sometimes categorized as New Age, it transcends that designation for its intensity of emotion. Further to that, it possesses a formal elegance and eloquence that aligns it arguably more to chamber classical.. Sweeten excels at fashioning material that speaks with immediacy to listeners’ inner lives, no matter how different their experiences might be. The opening words of Keats’s Endymion (1818), “A thing of beauty is a joy forever,” come to mind as I listen to Sweeten’s latest fifty-six-minute offering. ..it’s easy to imagine listeners swooning to Love Walks Through Rain and its predecessors decades from now when they present music of such emotional authenticity.
Ron Schepper
Textura
Will Ackerman
Founder Windham Hill Records
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Past Praise for Ann’s Work
Change Is In the Wind
Sweeten’s brilliant compositions are enhanced via meticulous performances. Her smooth melodies flow nicely as she delivers tasty instrumental efforts that take New Age music to a new level.”
Bob Morello
Boston Post-Gazette
Flying Solo Silhouette
MASTERFUL SOLO PIANO MUSIC
Ann Sweeten is an excellent pianist as she has demonstrated time and again on album after album that have consistently risen to the upper echelons of the main new age airplay chart around the world. Now she returns with her first solo piano album of original compositions, Flying Solo Silhouette.
This is as good as it gets in this genre. There have been a whole bunch of solo piano artists on the new age music scene over the past 20 years, but few approach the competency, talent, exquisite touch, melodic sensibilities and verve of Ann Sweeten.”
Magle International Music Forums
Where Butterflies Dance
“Sweeten’s music is always warm and lyrical reflecting her love of nature, staunch environmentalism and animal activism. Ann Sweeten’s efforts to change the world with her music are both commendable and compelling… elegant and graceful… achingly beautiful.”
Kathy Parsons
“New and Exceptional”
MainlyPiano.com – 5 Stars
Before Today, Beyond Tomorrow
“Sweeten has vanquished cancer twice and now is faced with a third go round. With the spirit she imbues her new age/contemporary instrumental piano playing with and the friends that are gathered here around her, you can hear and feel why this is the kind of set that could reignite new age back into the mainstream, this is the kind of quality music that Duke Ellington would refuse to label. Simply as good as it gets.”
Midwest Record
Tapestries of Time
“Having reviewed Ann’s previous album, In the Wake, her musical evolution is evident in the deeply personal and heartfelt compositions of Tapestries of Time. The sensitivity she brings to each piece draws the listener into a musical world of emotionally inspiring melodies and rich visual imagery for the mind’s eye. While the focus of the album is on “time”, what I was most struck by was the sense of timelessness that is evoked by Ann’s elegant compositions, artful arrangements and flawless performance.”
Music and Media Focus,
Rating: 5 Stars
In the Wake
“Warm, loving music that absolutely envelops the listener. You get so caught up in the music, that you are swallowed up in it. Gorgeous music.”
WMNR, Fine Arts Radio
(New York, Connecticut)