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A Child Is Born

“Music doth extenuate fears, furies, appeaseth cruelty, abateth heaviness, and to such as are wakeful it causeth quiet rest; it cures all irksomeness and heaviness of soul.”

— CASSIODORUS
The Divine Letters (c. 550)

One of the most joyful adventures life has to offer comes as we help welcome new lives into the world. And what can be more wonderful than witnessing the birth of a child? In my case, after the birth of our daughter I was so enthused – and inspired – that this recording of ballads and lullabyes commenced just a few weeks later.

Appropriately, the first tune is Sarah’s Lullabye. Certainly one of the most personal compositions of mine, this was written the night of my daughter’s delivery and is played here as a piano solo. The jazz ballad Mahogany, featuring Mike Metheny playing some lovely muted cornet, follows. Originally a wedding gift to my friends Kevin and Allene, this version also suggests to me a young child’s sense of contentment. A Blessing So Rare is a brief exploration.

Infant Dreams is a peaceful pop tune that implies the calm world of a baby at rest. Next up is A Child Is Born – Thad Jones’s classic ode to new birth. Charles Perkins plays the beautiful melody on flute after I’ve improvised a little over the harmonies. The reoccurring appearances of single, repeated notes in Protector of a Heart that is New were directly inspired by Sarah’s beating heart while still in the womb; the title suggests a mother protecting her unborn child.

The Wonder That You Are happens to be the longest track and again features Mike, this time on EVI (Electronic Valve Instrument). Melody for Megan is a short lullabye written for Sarah’s cousin – the then eight-month young Megan Waterfield. Charles returns to play flute on Ian and Justin, a medley of tunes (a ballad and a blues).

As Harold Arlen’s justly famous Over the Rainbow is one of my all-time favorite melodies, a new version seemed particularly appropriate for this collection; here I play it solo. We then come to two original jazz ballads: Mike joins me once more on With A Thankful Heart, while Love and Compassion is another solo number.

My interpretation of Duke Ellington’s Retrospection follows, a relatively unknown masterpiece which first appeared on record in 1952. This work, a typically Ducal blend of French impressionism and jazz voicings, is a gorgeous composition that deserves to be heard more frequently. After Charles and I take a pop-latin approach on Kindhearted Soul (one of my nicknames for Sarah), “A Child Is Born” closes with a solo version of Everything So New. Conceived as a rhythmic pop tune, here I play this more ‘freely’ so as to bring the recording to a gentle conclusion.

Although there have been a number of albums in this vein, my hope is that “A Child Is Born” proves to be uniquely soothing – not only to new parents and to their infants but to all listeners! May this collection of lullabyes bring you many hours of rewarding listening.

Paul Hofmann

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