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Albums, Song Cycles & Songs
All albums are available for purchase and downloading at CD Baby, iTunes, Amazon.com and most digital outlets.
Click here to purchase or download any of the the CDs at the above outlets via links at Louis' Store
I. Albums
I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING
An Album in Three Acts
14 Songs and 2 Songs Without Words
Music, Lyrics and Arrangements by Louis Rosen
2020
PHENOMENAL WOMAN:
The Maya Angelou Songs
11 Songs and 4 Songs Without Words
Music Composed, Arranged & Conducted by Louis Rosen
Lyrics by Maya Angelou
Vocals: Capathia Jenkins
(2018, Part III of The Black Loom Trilogy)
14 songs
Music, Lyrics and Arrangements by Louis Rosen
(3 songs in collaboration with Thom Bishop)
(2017)
Chosen by WFMT's legendary radio program, "The Midnight Special," as CD OF THE WEEK of 12-16-17
Read More about "DUST TO DUST BLUES"
Music by Louis Rosen
Including
Act One Suite: in Six Parts for Solo Piano
(2017)
THE BEST OF BROADWAY (And Off-) 2017 (12/18/17) "Exquisitely played by several different pianists and intimately recorded, these works taken together have the fleeting, transportive power of études by Chopin or Debussy; I find myself listening to them again and again…" (Deadline Hollywood)
"Each and every piece on ACT ONE is immensely evocative...A highly pleasurable CD showcasing diverse influences, talent, and imagination.... I recommend listening with eyes closed.” (The New York Press Club Award Winning website, “Woman Around Town.)
Read more about ACT ONE: Piano Music from the Theater
Songs in Jazz and Blues on poems by
Langston Hughes
music by
Louis Rosen
featuring
Capathia Jenkins & Alton Fitzgerald White
(2016, Part I of The Black Loom Trilogy)
"Rosen has respectfully taken the work of one of the earliest practitioners of jazz poetry and created symbiosis so organic, it's difficult to believe the two artists didn't work together; songs that reflect comprehension so visceral, Rosen slips a knot of race and history to reach the universal.
"Dream Suite, also a newly minted CD, is comprised of 14 songs derived from 21 poems spanning from the 1920's through the 1950's.... Like those in Porgy and Bess, the songs arrive full blooded and black, hybrid American opera--here without libretto." (Alix Cohen, Broadwayworld.com)
"Exuberant!'' Bloomberg News
Watch VIDEO performances of songs from DREAM SUITE
Music and Lyric Adaptations by
Louis Rosen
Lyrics drawn or adapted from poems by Edwin Arlington Robinson, William Butler Yeats, Sara Teasdale, Langston Hughes, Alice Cary, Madison Cawein, William Stanley Braithwaite, John Erskine and Lord Byron
TIME WAS marked Louis' debut as a solo recording artist on
™ (2013)
"Elegant tunesmith Louis Rosen's latest album, “Time Was”... is gorgeous. And magnificently produced. The sense of urgency is palpable." (Jeremy Gerard, Bloomberg News)
Watch VIDEO performances of songs from TIME WAS
THE ACHE OF POSSIBILITY
Music, Lyrics and Arrangements by
Louis Rosen
(four songs on poetry by Nikki Giovanni)
Vocals by Capathia Jenkins
Additional vocals by Louis Rosen
(2009)
"Highbrow—Brilliant.” (New York Magazine)
"Music that stirs the soul.” (Huffington Post)
“An ambitious release … image-rich lyrics … romantic numbers are smart and sexy … protest tunes that carry real bite.” (itunes Review)
READ MORE about "THE ACHE OF POSSIBILITY"
LISTEN to songs from "THE ACHE OF POSSIBILITY"
Watch a VIDEO performance of THE MIDDLE CLASS (USED TO BE) BLUES from THE ACHE OF POSSIBILITY"
ONE OUNCE OF TRUTH:
The Nikki Giovanni Songs
Music and Arrangements by Louis Rosen
Poetry by Nikki Giovanni
Vocals by Capathia Jenkins
(PS Classics Records, 2008, Part Three of The Black Loom Trilogy)
(2015)
"The songs are sly, playful observations...of life and love. Mr. Rosen’s music is a continually shifting patchwork of blues, folk, jazz and pop as earthy, tuneful art song.” (NY Times)
“...a blissful collaboration of composer, singer and poet… Rosen [as] songwriter charts an irresistible landscape between pop music and art song.” Bloomberg News
“The CD is sophisticated and thrilling, a true treat for adults looking for meaningful pop music.” Edge Magazine, New York
READ MORE about ONE OUNCE OF TRUTH
LISTEN to songs from ONE OUNCE OF TRUTH
Music & Lyrics by Louis Rosen
Vocals by Capathia Jenkins
& Louis Rosen
Rosecap/ (2006)
"Rosen...has created a fine and sometimes somber portrait of heartbreak and survival, joy and its absence, and love that endures even when the objects of that love are long vanished." (Chicago Tribune)
"I've never been so seduced by music completely new to me yet as embraceable as any from the classic American songbook.” (Bloomberg News)
“The songs are as intelligent as they are soulful, appealing to the brain as much as the heart.” (Cabaret Scenes)
READ more about SOUTH SIDE STORIES
LISTEN to songs from SOUTH SIDE STORIES
Watch a VIDEO performance of THE SOUTH SIDE from SOUTH SIDE STORIES
II. Song Cycles
IT IS STILL DARK: Songs of Exile — “Songs for Sondra” (2003)
six songs on words by Celso Gonzalez-Falla.
Music by Louis Rosen
Premiere: Great Hall of Cooper Union, 2006. Vocalist—Darius de Haas
(Private Recording Available)
A CHILD’S GARDEN SONG SUITE
(1994)
Ten songs on poems from “A Child’s Garden of Verses” by Robert Louis Stevenson
Music by Louis Rosen
Premiere (excerpts): Weill Concert Hall, NY 2004. Vocalist: Phillip Officer
(Private Recording Available)
FIVE RIVERSONGS
(1985)
Music by Louis Rosen
on poems by Edgar Lee Masters
for soprano and baritone and piano, 4 hands
Dual Premiere: The Museum of the City of New York and The Lincoln Center Library’s Bruno Walter Auditorium, 1985. Vocalists: Barbara Peters and Peter Stewart
(Private Recording Available)
RIVERSONGS
(1980, revised 1984)
Music by Louis Rosen
a choral, orchestral song cycle on poems by Edgar Lee Masters
FOUR SONGS
(1983)
Music by Louis Rosen
on poems by Carl Sandburg, Layle Silbert and Alena Synkova
Premiere: American Society for Jewish Music, 92nd Street Y, NY, 1985. Vocalist: Barbara Peters
(Private Recording Available)
