Artists

Songs by Bert Seager and Anita Diamant lyrics.

Tracks:

1. Joyful Noise (5:27)

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2. Seasonale (5:03)

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3. Pioneer (6:05)
4. Blue Yonder (4:46)
5. Open Book (3:08)

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6. Spending My Days With You (3:47)
7. Don’t Go (4:07)
8. Bunny Dune (6:34)
9. Anthem (5:31)
10. Praise (6:49)

Personnel:

• Rebecca Shrimpton voice
• Bert Seager piano
• Rick DiMuzio tenor saxophone
• Jorge Roeder bass
• Richie Barshay drums
• Dan Greenspan bass
• Jorge Pérez-Albela drums

REQUITED is the debut of a new collaboration between composer Bert Seager and novelist Anita Diamant with ten songs that celebrate the persistence of love and hope.

REQUITED is the meeting of three artists: pianist/composer Bert Seager, best-selling novelist Anita Diamant (lyricist), and jazz singer Rebecca Shrimpton. Together, they have created a modern twist on the American Songbook that is both fresh and hauntingly familiar. Seager and Diamant’s songs are a provocative union of beautifully surprising melodies, harmonic density, and exquisitely crafted images, performed with depth and seemingly effortless grace by Rebecca Shrimpton and a brilliant group of instrumentalists.

Requited means “given in return,” “completed,” “made whole.”

Requited is the word that best describes how I felt working on this music with my friend Bert Seager. I have been listening to Bert’s compositionsfor many years, but one night while driving alone on a dark road, listening to the haunting melody of “Pioneer,” I thought … “This needs a lyric.” I called to ask if I could try setting words to it. His “yes” led to our collaboration on these ten songs, and the most fun I have ever had as a writer.

Singer Rebecca Shrimpton unites Bert’s tunes and my phrases with a rich, agile voice and a warm intelligence to create a musical experience that is greater than its parts; a celebration of hope and love, the sound of hearts Requited.

Anita Diamant, January 2008
Bert Seager’s compositions have been praised as “lyrical… perfectly balanced and unfailingly beautiful” (Boston Phoenix), while Anita Diamant has earned international renown as a master storyteller with a gift for “spare yet vividly descriptive prose” (Boston Globe). Her best known book, The Red Tent, sold 3 million copies worldwide, was on The New York Times best-seller’s list for 47 weeks, and is soon to be re-issued in a new 10th anniversary edition.

As an interpreter of songs, Rebecca Shrimpton has been hailed as “a simply exquisite vocalist,” who “knows how to get the pulse and tick of every word” (All About Jazz). They are joined by some of today’s finest and most sought-after jazz musicians, including Rick DiMuzio (tenor saxophone), Jorge Roeder (bass), Richie Barshay (drums), Dan Greenspan (bass), and Jorge Pérez-Albela (drums).