Solitude – Reginald Mobley

After a first album (Because, Alpha 936) devoted to Afro-American spirituals that won several awards (Opus Klassik, Edison Klassiek, GRAMMY Award nomination), the American countertenor Reginald Mobley devotes this new recording to English repertoire with a simple combination of primarily voice, lute, and viola da gamba. Solitude opens with Henry Purcell’s moving ‘Tis Nature’s Voice and other famous Purcell melodies, sails through John Dowland’s deeply melancholy waves, and also reveals the declamatory charm of the 17th-century English composers who surrounded Samuel Pepys. We then travel to America, where contemporary composers Jonathan Woody and Douglas Balliett explore “the indomitable resilience contained in the tale of a runaway slave” as told by the brilliant African-American haiku poet Crystal Simone Smith. With Brandon Acker on lute, theorbo and baroque guitar and Douglas Balliett on viola da gamba and double bass, Reggie completes this intimate journey with songs arranged in the 19th century by the black American guitarist, composer and abolitionist Justin Holland.