The Middle of Life

SSC4038 2023-06-02

Track List

Turnaround - 7:10
Lament - 1:17
For Ukraine - 6:29
Now River - 8:05
If I Must Go - 6:34
Paisagem Da Janela - 7:10
The Middle of Life - 4:55
Twenty Seven 8 July - 5:50
Nine Years of Love - 4:47
Last Words - 7:46

Musicians

Christian Artmann - flute, alto flute
Laszlo Gardony - piano
John Lockwood - bass
Yoron Israel - drums
Elena McEntire - vocals

Part of what makes The Middle of Life a strikingly cohesive project is Artmann’s choice of ensemble. The album features Hungarian-born pianist Laszlo Gardony (also on Artmann’s previous release Our Story), as well as Gardony’s longtime collaborators, bassist John Lockwood and drummer Yoron Israel. Like Gardony, who’s been a creative force in the U.S. for four decades, Lockwood and Israel have spent many years on faculty at Berklee College of Music, where Artmann first connected with Gardony in the 1990s. Vocalist Elena McEntire, a conservatory-trained mezzo-soprano (New York City Opera, One World Symphony, Baz Luhmann’s La Bohème) who has recorded and performed with Artmann for the last decade, contributes on three of the album’s tracks.