This 2013 recording emerges at the crossroads of classical and folk music, where Simone Dinnerstein and singer-songwriter Tift Merritt join forces to meld their own voices.
Simone Dinnerstein (a Juilliard-trained classical pianist from Brooklyn - whose 2007 recording of Bach's Goldberg Variations soared to #1 on Billboard's Classical Chart in its first week of sales) and Tift Merritt (a singer-songwriter from North Carolina whose father taught her to play by ear) could not come from more different musical backgrounds.
Yet together they create a work of deep and quiet beauty, sensitivity, and excellence ... a distinctive sonic landscape, molded from the imaginative artistry of two explorers seeking a common musical path.
Night features new songs written especially for the duo by Brad Mehldau (I Shall Weep at Night) and Patty Griffin (Night), as well as Tift Merritt's own songs (Only in Songs, Still Not Home, Colors, Feel of the World), and classical selections (an arrangement of Schubert's Night and Dreams, Bach's Prelude in B minor).
The album also includes the world premiere recording of The Cohen Variations by Daniel Felsenfeld, a solo piano piece commissioned by Dinnerstein based on one of her favorite songs, Leonard Cohen's Suzanne.
'I love the idea that a song by Billie Holiday can speak to a song by Purcell, and that each one can influence the way we hear the other.' -Simone Dinnerstein
'True collaboration is that willingness to extend yourself to a new place but in a way that does not feel like anything has been given up.' -Tift Merritt