Jonathan Elias 'American River' album

One of the most talented and versatile American composers of his generation, Jonathan Elias is a highly regarded writer, arranger and conductor of music for film, television and advertising.

But since the release of his landmark recording Prayer Cycle in 1999, this Los Angeles-based musician has forsaken some of these lucrative commercial assignments in order to pursue his own creative vision.

Jonathan Elias' new album, American River, is the latest and most fully realized manifestation of that vision: a strikingly original work of passion and beauty that invokes the spirits of Aaron Copland and Woody Guthrie, Charles Ives and the Carter Family. His collaborators on the new disc include Rosanne Cash, Emmylou Harris, Kris Kristofferson, Marty Stuart, and -- in his final studio recording -- American music icon Johnny Cash.

Each guest artist "wrote his or her own lyrics, and they're all different," Elias explains. "For 'The Source,' Kris Kristofferson wrote about the river as a symbol of both destruction and renewal. For 'The Continuance,' Johnny Cash and his daughter Rosanne speak about the Cash family coming to America as mariners and musicians--how they wove themselves into the fabric of the new American society. It was Johnny's last day of recording, and his performance is fragile but truly heartfelt."

If some portions of American River sound familiar, it's because millions of listeners have already heard elements of this music used in major advertising campaigns: "Wild Colorado" as a theme for Acura, for example, or "Crossing Rivers" in an ad for Lexus. Now Jonathan Elias has reworked and expanded these themes into a unified conceptual work. From the delicate, haunting strains of "At The Edge" to the closing "Mother of Exile" (featuring Emmylou Harris in a recitation of Emma Lazarus' poem "The New Colossus"), American River blends intricate melodies, modal harmonies and virtuoso instrumental solos.

Among those accompanying Elias (on acoustic piano) are such stellar classical players as Charlie Bisharat (violin) and Cameron Stone (cello); and from the world of bluegrass and country music, dobro master Jerry Douglas, guitarist Randy Scruggs and mandolinists Marty Stuart and Ronnie McCoury.

"American River is intended as a symbol of hope and renewal," says Elias. "In both a spiritual and environmental sense of a river constantly being reborn, the music suggests a long transformation through slowly evolving nature. Along the way, the river reflects the history -- sometimes emotionally dark and somber, sometimes hopeful and of unimaginable beauty -- that makes up our own American River."

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Jonathan Elias - American River