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Cathlene Pineda: Rainbow Baby
ByCharlie Parker
saxophone, alto1920 - 1955

Cathlene Pineda
pianoMotherhood is a big part of what Pineda has lived, an equilibrium of emotion on the spectrum of sorrow and joy resultingover a four year periodfrom two devastating miscarriages and two joyous births. Now, she celebrates that experience in the company of a splendid jazz quartet with Rainbow Baby. The term "Rainbow Baby" refers to a child born shortly after the loss of a previous baby due to misscarriage, still birth or death in infancy. Joy following devastation, a rainbow after a dark storm.
The disc's opening cut, "1Nine," refers to the birth of the pianist's daughter, Pineda's "rainbow baby," during the time that the newcomer's grandfatherPineda's fatherwas in the hospital fighting the ravages of a stroke and the prospect of brain surgery. "Serenity" is the word that comes to mind in the opening minute of the tune, Pineda, with a soft touch, playing some cushioned chordsa second heartbeat inside the mother's body? The metronomic reading from the hospital monitor of a stricken patient? Joy and sadness dancing in a vortex of life's vagaries?

Kris Tiner
trumpetb.1977

David Tranchina
bass
Tina Raymond
drumsThe twelve-minute title-tune gives off a lighthearted vibe, tinted with solemnity, Tiner's straightforward storytelling underscored by Pineda's complex and roiling undercurrents. And if, by this time in the disc's spin, Pineda's distinctive compositional acumen isn't clear, it will be with the arrival of "Milo," and further in "Wild Geese II" and "Wild Geese IV, and then "Carriers I" and "Carriers II," music concerning motherhood's weight and responsibilities, deftly and beautifully articulated, because Cathlene Pineda has lived it. ">
Track Listing
1Nine; Rainbow Baby; Milo; Wonder Weeks; Wild Geese II; Wild Geese IV; Carriers I; Carriers II; The Collective Memory.
Personnel
Album information
Title: Rainbow Baby | Year Released: 2020 | Record Label: Orenda Records
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