Soul Mates - Danny Wright    Price: $14.95 Danny Wright is a truly gifted pianist who has sold over 4 million CDs and thrilled audiences with performances of exquisite loveliness. On Soul Mates, his debut album for Real Music, Danny expresses the heartfelt joy of his own piano compositions and of instrumental arrangements of unparalleled beauty. Soul Mates is perfect music for touching the love within or with that special someone.

Track Listing
1. Angel Voices 3:57
2. Soul Mates 3:06
3. The Water is Wide 4:14
4. Keys to the Heart 3:10
5. Loving You 3:15
6. Everlasting Love 3:02
7. Everything Must Change 4:10
8. Greyson's Lullaby 4:15
9. The Prayer 4:30
10. Tender Moments 3:19
11. Together Forever 4:16

Reviews
"Soul Mates is Danny Wright’s debut release on Real Music, though he’s sold over four million records through (a previous) label. He’s a warmly romantic composer and an exquisite pianist with the gentlest, most expressive hands on the keys. His graceful compositions have moved me to tears, offering a tender release from the tensions of the day. He often composes songs as gifts to friends or to help support a worthy cause. It’s clear that his heart and hands are directly connected, as the music he makes provides much solace to an aching heart.

Accompanying Wright are two violinists, Lauren Laing and Milo Deering. All but three of the compositions, "The Water is Wide," "Everything Must Change" and "The Prayer," are his. Favorites include "Everlasting Love," which he wrote and played for friends at their wedding. With a lush, luminous melody and heavenly strings, I can readily imagine many couples wanting this song as part of their wedding. "Tender Moments" was written as a tribute for some friends, and the melody is as enchanting as anything I’ve heard in ages. Soul Mates is for those who love piano-based music at its most achingly lovely. Listeners will do well to become soul mates with this outstanding album."

Steve Ryals, New Age Music Reviewer
Presenting a world of music for the Spirit...
http://www.planet-earth-music.com/

"Just heard Danny Wright’s first release on Real Music – Soul Mates – and wanted to tell you now much I love it. It is exquisite. Danny plays from the heart – with real tenderness and feeling—and his original songs are breathtaking. His music soars—he’s free, spiritually and artistically—and he’s never sounded better. Please congratulate him on this fantastic release and please bring us many more!"
Jan Kiser, PianoDisc

"Danny Wright’s first album for Real Music has been a very happy surprise for me. I’ve been familiar with Wright’s many collections of pop and show tunes but with cover arrangements of hit songs, it is often difficult for me to find the soul and real emotional content hiding under all the frills, trills and arpeggios. So until now, Wright hasn’t been one of my favorite artists. That has suddenly changed, as the emotional power of the piano sings through this entire album. Eight of the eleven pieces are original, bringing a much warmer and more personal feel to this album than earlier releases. This could be the start of something great!

The opening track, "Angel Voices" was composed for The Tornado Relief Fund and is both melancholy and hopeful — the violins tug at the heartstrings. Soul Mates is dedicated to Barbra Streisand as a source of inspiration for all aspects of Wright’s career. Delicate, yet very strong, this piece is a loving tribute that should touch anyone’s heart. "The Water is Wide" is a traditional spiritual that seems to be enjoying newfound popularity, and Wright’s treatment is among the best with a lovely violin counterpart. "Keys to the Heart," "Tender Moments" and "Everlasting Love" are heartfelt love songs, pure and simple. "Together Forever" is in memory of the Kennedy/Bisset plane crash and the sudden sense of loss we all felt when we heard the news of this tragic event. Sad without being maudlin or melodramatic, the addition of ocean sounds at the beginning and end of the piece define it as being their song "forever."
Danny Wright should find a whole new audience with this excellent album. His original pieces stand tall and strong among the well-known cover compositions, and I hope he and Real Music will continue to release his own work. Bravo and both thumbs up!"

Kathy Parsons, Solo Piano Publications
www.solopianopublications.com

"SOUL MATES by Danny Wright. Original, sincerely emotional piano compositions and arrangements sound notes of sentimentality for love lost and found on these reflective recordings. Wright’s Steinway resonates richly, requiring minimal additional instrumentation. The violin counterpart in "The Water is Wide" moves so fluidly with the keyboard it’s as if both instruments become one, melting individual notes together. The compositions span a broad societal and emotional array, touching on themes from tornado relief to weddings to first grandchild’s birth. This is a mature work, and my favorite Wright CD so far -- a fitting follow-up to his previous recordings, which have sold over 4,000,000 copies." ~ BT NAPRA Review May/June 2001