As years come and go, one increasingly recalls memories of earlier times. One of the most vivid and cherished memories I have while growing up is of Sunday mornings, going to church, sitting in the same pew each week with my grandmother, hearing and singing the beautiful hymns of our faith, and then returning home to the aroma of beef slowly roasting in the oven. My father directed the church choir, my mother and older brothers sang in the choir, so the wonderful music of our faith was instilled in me from an early age. This medley, and others in the series, are arrangements of many of my favorite hymns from those early years, many of which have been lost in more recent editions. A caveat: I have no delusions, and offer no pretenses, that these settings are great art. They are simply expressions of faith which I hope may bring a small measure of joy and comfort to other technically challenged yet serviceable pianists such as myself. The general concept of each medley is to present the hymn, often in its original chorale form, and then vary its harmony or texture. The hymns in this set include "He Leadeth Me", "Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us", and "O Master, Let Me Walk with Thee".

Juan Mar�a Solare: Numbered Places (eleven piano pieces)



01 - One Way Flight to... (2:50)

02 - Twopenny Loaf [USA] (3:45)

03 - Three Bridges [UK] (2:25)

04 - Four Oaks [USA] (3:00)

05 - Five Pointz [NYC] (3:45)

06 - Six Mile Bottom [UK] (2:40)

07 - Seven Kings [UK] (5:10)

08 - Eight Streets [USA] (5:55)

09 - Nine Elms [UK] (2:50)

10 - Ten Ten Road [NC, USA] (3:25)

11 - Eleven Lands [UK] (3:30)



Totaltime: 39:15

Numbered Places * piano * music by Juan Mar�a Solare



The cycle Numbered Places startsfrom a simple idea: the piece nr. 1 would have a title that begins with theword One, the piece nr. 2 a titlethat begins with the word Two and soon up to an arbitrary number (in this case, eleven).



For everything to have more cohesion, English names of different places orregions in either USA or (mainly) UK were used.



In its own way, Numbered Placesis therefore a conceptual album - alreadyfrom the point of view of titles.



Also musically, this world of sound has cohesion: instrumental piano music,neoclassical aesthetics (a somewhat broad concept that encompasses composerssuch as Erik Satie or Ludovico Einaudi), a certain simplicity in its surface.



Let us briefly comment each of the titles:



- One WayFlight to ...: The imaginary journey starts here. Each person will completethe sentence with the destiny of their choice.

- TwopennyLoaf: This is a neighborhood (and geographically a cape) in the city ofGloucester, Essex County, Massachusetts, USA. It is believed to have gotten itsname because it is shaped like a (bread) loaf that at the time cost twopennies.

- ThreeBridges: It is a city somewhere between London and Brighton, and a nodalpoint where trains typically split. Musically, the most minimalistic of all thecycle.

- Four Oaks:There are numerous places so named, both in England and the US, and possibly inother countries. I can imagine that there were actually four oak trees planted near.

- FivePointz: Neighborhood in Queens, New York. A graffiti mecca that wasdemolished in 2014 to build expensive buildings. And yes, it is spelled with zin this case.

- Six MileBottom: Is a hamlet near Cambridge in England. The hamlet derives its namefrom its distance from the start of Newmarket Racecourse and because it lies ina valley bottom. There is no public transport. The old train station, closed in1967 for lack of use, is now a private residence.

- SevenKings: It is a neighborhood in Ilford, East London. The earliest recordeduse of the name is as Sevekyngg or Sevekyngges in 1285, possibly meaning'settlement of the family or followers of a man called Seofoca'

- EightStreets: it is a (very sought-after) neighborhood located in the heart ofthe historic South End of the city of Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

- Nine Elms:a district of South West London. Nine Elms Lane was named around the year 1645,from a row of elm trees bordering the road.

- Ten TenRoad: it is a place -actually the main road- in the town of Apex, NorthCarolina, USA.

- ElevenLands: this place is mentioned in an old legal report from around 1782 asexisting in North London ("a place called Eleven Lands, containing fiveacres of arable, formerly Cosby's, beonging to a farm in the said parish ofBletcheley...", in " Acollection of the Reports of Cases, the Statutes, and Ecclesiastical Laws,relating to Tithes", volume 3). It has certainly changed its name.Musically, this last piece has a certain tango aura.





Why eleven pieces and not more? The truth is that - incredibly as it mayseem - I didn't find any place called "Twelve" something. Yes thereare such names in other languages, but I wanted to keep some consistency. Thereare also pubs or bars called Twelvewhatever, but since they are not sponsoring my music, I had no motivation togive them free advertising at the moment.



This album was released in early 2020 on Spotify, iTunes and allother online platforms through the label BlissRecordings in London (part of frtyfve).Find your favorite service here: https://frtyfve.lnk.to/NPVol1



There are alsovideos of several pieces of this album. They are in the following playlist:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL70vQeCRYmkp3vEdIkdnjJyiU1aZ_u7HA