Featuring:

Lynne Arriale, piano
Jeremy Allen, bass
Sean Dobbins, drums

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“Easily the most outstanding album we have heard recently…” ★★★★ Marlbank, UK

“In a sense the deeply meditative music with their one-word titles makes these glorious miniatures seem like vortices of emotion… For this is music that is born of body and soul. The compositions bear the hallmark of a composer who composes not so much with pencil on staved paper, but with the proverbial nerve-endings of the very flesh of her fingers that caress the keys as she plays the music. Her glorious melodic lines lift the black dots off the paper and exhort them to sing and dance and pirouette like Apollo’s Angels in the air around you.

…an album with so many heart-on-the sleeve moments that you will find yourself catching your breath in absolute awe of Arriale’s introspective artistry…an artist of the first order…

…the album speaks to Arriale’s humanity is the fact that it has been inspired by the epiphany that we all belong to the Human Race and if we are to survive we should allow “Love”, in directing our humanity, to be the glue that binds us.”

– That Canadian Magazine

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Being Human, pianist-composer Lynne Arriale’s 17th release as a leader, and fourth for Challenge Records International, is a suite of 10 original compositions that celebrates some of the ways that all of our lives are enriched by acts of passion, courage, love, persistence, heart, soul, curiosity, faith and joy. Many of the songs are dedicated to people who’ve inspired Arriale, including climate activist Greta Thunberg, National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman and Nobel Laureate Malala Yousafzai.

“I wrote this suite in response to the division and turmoil in our world,” Arriale says. “The music focuses on qualities we all share, that define our humanity. I hope this album will be uplifting and convey a sense of unity and optimism. The dedications reflect my admiration for those who I feel personify the traits that inspired the music.”

In many ways, Being Human is a continuation of the albums that Arriale has released in recent years, such as 2020’s Chimes of Freedom, which addressed the worldwide immigration crisis and the experiences of refugees who risk everything to find a better life for themselves and their families, and 2022’s The Lights Are Always On, which examined the life-changing events wrought by COVID-19. On Being Human, Arriale affirms the preeminence of love, hope and unity in a world torn by the negative effects of political and cultural polarization.