{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}} {{Infobox album | name = Earth Stories | type = studio | artist = Cyrus Chestnut | cover = Earth Stories.png | alt = | released = 1996 | recorded = November 28–30, 1995 | venue = | studio = Mastersound, NYC | genre = Jazz | length = | label = Atlantic | producer = Yves Beauvais, Cyrus Chestnut | prev_title = Dark Before the Dawn | prev_year = 1994 | next_title = Blessed Quietness | next_year = 1996 }} '''''Earth Stories''''' is an album by the American musician Cyrus Chestnut, released in 1996.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Norment |first1=Lynn |title=Sounding Off |magazine=Ebony |date=June 1996 |volume=51 |issue=8 |page=20}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Giddins |first1=Gary |title=Weather Bird: Jazz at the Dawn of Its Second Century |date=2004 |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=572}}</ref> It is dedicated to his grandmother.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Andrews |first1=Marke |title=Cyrus Chestnut Earth Stories |work=The Vancouver Sun |date=June 27, 1996 |page=D8}}</ref> Chestnut supported the album with a North American tour.<ref name=AA>{{cite news |last1=Ellerbe |first1=Gary M. |title=All That Jazz |work=Afro-American Red Star |date=April 13, 1996 |page=B5}}</ref> ''Earth Stories'' was a success on ''Billboard''{{'}}s Top Jazz Albums chart.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Top Jazz Albums |magazine=Billboard |date=May 4, 1996 |volume=108 |issue=18 |page=35}}</ref>
==Production== The album was produced by Yves Beauvais and Chestnut.<ref name=MH/> Chestnut had originally envisioned a sextet recording before deciding that he wanted to be the prime mover of the music.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Thompson |first1=M. Dion |title=Jazzman refuses to repeat himself |work=The Baltimore Sun |date=July 19, 1996 |page=1E}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Blangger |first1=Tim |title=Three Is the Magic Number for Pianist Cyrus Chestnut |work=The Morning Call |date=October 4, 1997 |page=A39}}</ref> He was backed by Alvester Garnett on drums and Steve Kirby on bass.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Smith |first1=Will |title=Jazz Sounds |work=Omaha World-Herald |date=May 5, 1996 |department=Entertainment |page=10}}</ref> He wrote nine of the album's 11 songs.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Chapman |first1=Geoff |title=Jazz |work=Toronto Star |date=April 13, 1996 |page=H2}}</ref> Chestnut felt that the songs, in their different styles, were reflective of his personal history and his interest in the blues.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lloyd |first1=Jack |title=Pianist's Music Is Shaped by His Gospel Roots |work=The Philadelphia Inquirer |date=April 19, 1996 |department=Features Weekend |page=30}}</ref><ref name=NY/> He labeled "Cooldaddy's Perspective" "acoustic funk"; the horn section on the song included the saxophonists Steve Carrington and Antonio Hart and the trumpeter Eddie Allen.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hunter Jr. |first1=Al |title=He Found Jazz a Spiritual Awakening |work=Philadelphia Daily News |date=April 19, 1996 |department=Features Yo! |page=51}}</ref><ref name=MH/> "East of the Sun and West of the Moon" includes a phrase from Barry Harris's "Nascimento".<ref name=RS/> "Nutman's Invention #1" is played in a ragtime style.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Lima |first1=OJ |title=Revolutions |magazine=Vibe |date=September 1996 |volume=4 |issue=7 |page=208}}</ref> "In the Garden" is a version of the traditional spiritual.<ref name=TC/>
==Critical reception== {{Music ratings |rev1 = AllMusic |rev1score = {{rating|4.5|5}}<ref name="AM">{{cite web |title=Earth Stories Review by Ken Dryden |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/earth-stories-mw0000181948 |website=AllMusic |access-date=April 22, 2025}}</ref> |rev2 = ''The Buffalo News'' |rev2score = {{rating|3.5|5}}<ref name="BN">{{cite news |last1=Simon |first1=Jeff |title=Jazz |work=The Buffalo News |date=April 19, 1996 |department=Gusto |page=29}}</ref> |rev3 = ''Fort Worth Star-Telegram'' |rev3score = {{rating|4|5}}<ref>{{cite news |last1=Shull |first1=Chris |title=Jazz |work=Fort Worth Star-Telegram |date=May 31, 1996 |department=Star Time |page=14}}</ref> |rev4 = ''Los Angeles Times'' |rev4score = {{rating|3|4}}<ref name="LA">{{cite news |last1=Heckman |first1=Don |title=Jazz |work=Los Angeles Times |date=March 31, 1996 |department=Calendar |page=72}}</ref> |rev5 = ''MusicHound Jazz: The Essential Album Guide'' |rev5score = {{rating|4|5}}<ref name="MH">{{cite book |title=MusicHound Jazz: The Essential Album Guide |date=1998 |publisher=Visible Ink Press |page=227}}</ref> |rev6 = New York ''Daily News'' |rev6score = {{rating|3|5}}<ref>{{cite news |last1=Santoro |first1=Gene |title=Record Reviews |work=Daily News |date=May 14, 1996 |page=38}}</ref> |rev7 = ''The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings'' |rev7score = {{rating|3|4}}<ref name="PG">{{cite book |title=The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings |date=2008 |publisher=Penguin Books |page=246}}</ref> |rev8 = ''The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide'' |rev8score = {{rating|4|5}}<ref name="RS">{{cite book |title=The Rolling Stone Jazz & Blues Album Guide |date=1999 |publisher=Random House |page=144}}</ref> }} The ''Los Angeles Times'' said that "the pianist plays with a drive that is enriched by his superb command of the keyboard... [he] moves comfortably throughout from simple melody to rhapsodic virtuosity."<ref name=LA/> ''The Globe and Mail'' called Chestnut "a robust, hard-swinging pianist who gets around the keyboard very handily, though not always with particular finesse."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Miller |first1=Mark |title=Earth Stories |work=The Globe and Mail |date=April 13, 1996 |page=C7}}</ref> The ''Times Colonist'' noted that Chestnut's "ballad readings carry a bluesy emotional wallop, and his upbeat compositions are propelled by rhythmically inventive, texturally sublime keyboard offerings."<ref name="TC">{{cite news |last1=Blake |first1=Joseph |title=Sound Advice |work=Times Colonist |date=April 20, 1996 |department=Entertainment |page=1}}</ref> ''The New York Times'' stated that "Chestnut is after swing, the thrill of improvisation and blues tonality."<ref name="NY">{{cite news |last1=Watrous |first1=Peter |title=Capturing the Vitality of Live Jazz |work=The New York Times |date=April 23, 1996 |page=C13}}</ref> ''The Washington Post'' deemed ''Earth Stories'' "the year's best jazz instrumental album".<ref>{{cite news |title=Best of '96: Music |work=The Washington Post |date=December 27, 1996 |department=Weekend |page=7}}</ref>
==Track listing== {{Track listing | all_writing = | title1 = Decision, Decisions | length1 = | title2 = Grandma's Blues | length2 = | title3 = My Song in the Night | length3 = | title4 = Nutman's Invention #1 | length4 = | title5 = Blues from the East | length5 = | title6 = Cooldaddy's Perspective | length6 = | title7 = Maria's Folly | length7 = | title8 = East of the Sun and West of the Moon | length8 = | title9 = Gomez | length9 = | title10 = Whoopi | length10 = | title11 = In the Garden | length11 = }}
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Cyrus Chestnut}}
Category:Cyrus Chestnut albums Category:1996 albums Category:Atlantic Records albums