Stephen Michael Brown * Michael Stephen Brown: Twelve Blocks [New CD]

Michael Stephen Brown's debut album as a composer of all-original works, has it all: tributes, emotional detours, and even a breakup etude he probably should've kept under lock and key. You'll find lost loves, lifelong mentors, children who never grew up, an arrogant violist - because what's an album without one? - and a legendary pianist couple who walk twelve blocks daily reciting poetry to each other. Performers include Jerome Lowenthal, Ursula Oppens, Anne-Marie McDermott, Osmo Vanska, Erin Keefe, Susanna Phillips, Paul Neubauer, and Brown himself.