Album Notes

Deborah Henson-Conant is simply unlike any other performer. Her performances, whether one-woman shows or full symphonic suites, blur the line between musical performance and theatrical event.

Deborah herself is equally difficult to categorize. Her influences and experiences are as varied as one would expect for someone who moved every year until the age of 25, and who then began touring internationally, often spending six months out of each year on tour. She has made her own path, composing musical theater since the age of 12, studying classical harp, developing her own version of swing and Latin jazz and finally connecting all three elements into a new genre of musical performance that mixes jazz, folk and flamenco with a theatrical narrative of storytelling and humor.

The word 'harp' generally calls to mind visions of the heavenly choir, tinkling serenely atop rose-colored clouds. Forget that image. Deborah has made a career out of breaking through the angel dust. In fact, the very limitations that frustrated her at first have led to the richness of her performance: The lack of music written for the harp forced her to become a prolific composer. The stultified, virginal image of the harp forced her to explore her instrument's vast system of roots in other cultures. Chafing under the confines of the classical music world, she developed her own style of swing and Latin jazz by emulating jazz pianists, guitarists and horn players. She then incorporated these elements into her own compositions, landed a record contract, and became known as the world's premiere jazz harpist. When jazz itself began to confine her, she expanded the boundaries of the genre to incorporate flamenco, blues and folk, and when she found the harp physically constraining she had a new instrument built for her, a solid-body electric Body Harp that combines the portability and volume capabilities of an electric guitar with the technique of a harp. Rather than turning her back on any element from her past or any challenge she's encountered, she's incorporated them all to create a genre that is hers alone.