Ostara Project - Ostara Project (CD)

Release Date: 11/18/22

The lush arrangements arise from the fruitful collaboration of 7 outstanding artists, each a bandleader & composer in her own right.

The hope of spring is precious because it rises out of the darkness of winter. Inspired by a day of tempestuous winter rain in Montreal, Rachel Therrien's Lluviona is a tribute to a tragic figure in Mexican folklore, La Llorona, who roams the coastline, mourning her drowned children. Jocelyn Gould's Tides are Turning is the story of a young woman who feels misunderstood by the world, her anguish transformed into art by the improvised guitar solos which represent her prayers. Rise is Sanah Kadoura's powerful anthem about pushing through the darkness of life to a place where the heart is transformed and light and energy form the foundation of a new self-worth. Delta Sky is Allison Au's tribute to New Orleans, the birthplace of jazz and a city that has met with devastating challenges but remains a powerful example of how music builds community. And Jodi Proznick's Storms and Oceans is a compelling call to living a new truth, embodied by a woman lying in the moonlight, navigating the turmoil created by the need for change in her life.

Within the struggle to hope are fragile moments of peace. Joanna Majoko delivers resonate and deeply soulful melodic embellishments that glide effortlessly over a spirited groove in her arrangement of Bye Bye Blackbird, infusing this popular standard with a darker and deeper emotional tone. And Little One, with lyrics by Jodi Proznick and music by Amanda Tosoff, is a love song of hope and joy from a mother to her child, infused with the wonder of new life.

New growth rising out of the darkness, stretching for new light and life, propelled by hope. This is the music of Ostara.