Promises Kept (Steve Kuhn album)

Promises Kept is an album by American jazz pianist and composer Steve Kuhn—credited to Steve Kuhn with Strings—recorded in 2000 and released on ECM in April 2004. Kuhn is backed by bassist David Finck and a fifteen-strong string ensemble conducted by Carlos Franzetti.[1]

Promises Kept
Studio album by
ReleasedApril 27, 2004
RecordedJune and September 2000
StudioEdison Studios
New York City
GenreJazz
Length58:21
LabelECM
ECM 1815
ProducerManfred Eicher
Steve Kuhn chronology
Live in Japan Vol.1 & Vol.2
(2004)
Promises Kept
(2004)
Easy to Love
(2004)

Reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [2]
The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings    [3]

The AllMusic review by Thom Jurek awarded the album 4½ stars stating "this is one of the finest recordings Kuhn has ever issued. Simply put, for all the decades spent adventuring on the boundaries where various traditions blur, the pianist and composer articulate direct emotion as the most effective communicator here, no matter what terrain is navigated in form. A breathtaking and intimate outing, this is a career-topping effort."[2]

Track listing

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All tracks are written by Steve Kuhn; Orchestrated and conducted by Carlos Franzetti.

No.TitleLength
1."Lullaby"4:45
2."Life's Backward Glance"5:03
3."Trance"8:12
4."Morning Dew"5:34
5."Promises Kept"5:19
6."Adagio"7:31
7."Celtic Princess"5:10
8."Nostalgia"5:27
9."Oceans in the Sky"5:40
10."Pastorale"5:40

Personnel

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Steve Kuhn with Strings

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  • Carlos Franzetti – conductor
    • Krista Bennion Feeney, Elizabeth Lim-Dutton, Richard Sortomme, Karl Kawahara, Barry Finclair, Helen Kim, Robert Shaw, Carol Pool, Anca Nicolau – violins
    • Sue Pray, Vince Lionti, Karen Ritscher – violas
    • Stephanie Cummins, Richard Locker, Joshua Gordon – celli

Technical personnel

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  • Arthur Moorhead – producer
  • Jan Erik Kongshaug, Manfred Eicher – remixing, mastering
  • Gary Chester – recording engineer
    • Yvonne Yedibalian – assistant recording engineer
  • Sascha Kleis – design
  • Liner Notes – Bob Blumenthal – liner notes
  • Dieter Rehm – cover photography
  • Robert Lewis – liner photography

References

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  1. ^ ECM discography accessed November 15, 2011
  2. ^ a b Jurek, T. Allmusic Review accessed November 15, 2011
  3. ^ Cook, Richard; Morton, Brian (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings (9th ed.). Penguin. p. 852. ISBN 978-0-141-03401-0.