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KAREN PARKS
Nobody Knows: Songs Of Harry T. Burleigh
(Ottimavoce)

(NO DEPRESSION.NET) -- Born in Pennsylvania just after the end of the Civil War, Henry Thacker Burleigh studied at the National Conservatory of Music, conducted African-American operas such as George Walker and Bert Williams' 1898 The Senegambian Carnival, and gained fame for his baritone singing voice. As arranger, Burleigh recast African-American spirituals as art songs; his "O Southland" used a text by poet James Weldon Johnson. He's an important, neglected figure. Nobody Knows: Songs Of Harry T. Burleigh includes spirituals such as "Weepin' Mary" and songs on the order of the knotty, complex "His Helmet's Blaze". Karen Parks, a classically trained, South Carolina-born soprano who turned up on last year's compilation Song Of America, interprets Burleigh's music perfectly. These fifteen performances, recorded in Nashville with pianist Wayne Sanders and strings from the ALIAS Chamber Ensemble, illustrate a synthesis of humble material and refined execution. Burleigh's conception and immaculate taste shine through on this collection, and the production and engineering are first-rate.

-- EDD HURT
Copyright c. 2008 No Depression Inc. and/or Edd Hurt.