Echoes of Change is a powerful dual project—an album and an educational workshop—that uses jazz and song to foster creativity, self-expression, and emotional honesty. Through improvisation and storytelling, it invites audiences and participants alike on a journey of sorrow, strength, resolve, and hope.
Echoes of Change:
A Journey Through Sorrow, Strength, and Hope
Enter the Studio Insider Raffle
For a limited time, you can enter to win an exclusive chance to join Ryan Roberts and Lia Booth in the studio during the recording session. Even if you don’t win, your entry helps sustain this project, and every participant is directly supporting music education and emotional literacy programs.
Album
Ryan Roberts - Double Bass
Lia Booth - Vocals
Engineered by: Shawn Baltazor
Tracks:
Solitude
Good Morning Heartache
Detour Ahead
I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free
You’ve Got to Be Carefully Taught
Pick Yourself Up
On A Clear Day
Open Your Eyes, You Can Fly
At the heart of Echoes of Change is a four-movement jazz suite where improvisation and song intertwine with deep emotional awareness. Each movement reflects a universal theme—Sorrow, Strength, Resolve, and Hope—framed by the words of cultural icons like Langston Hughes, James Baldwin, Harriet Tubman, and Emily Dickinson. Through re-imagined jazz standards and improvisational storytelling, the album becomes both a musical journey and an invitation to reflect, heal, and grow.
I. Sorrow
Opening with Langston Hughes’ words, “Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair,” this movement reflects the weight of hardship and injustice. Through haunting melodies and introspective improvisation, it honors struggle while creating space for empathy and reflection.
II. Strength (Awakening)
Introduced by James Baldwin’s reminder that “Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced,” this movement channels resilience and awakening. The music stirs courage, calling listeners to awareness and transformation.
III. Resolve
Guided by Harriet Tubman’s words, “Every great dream begins with a dreamer,” this movement radiates determination. Uplifting rhythms and spirited improvisations inspire perseverance and the courage to keep moving forward.
IV. Hope
Framed by Emily Dickinson’s timeless poem, “Hope is the thing with feathers,” the suite concludes with lightness and renewal. Bright harmonies and soaring improvisations leave audiences with a sense of possibility, reminding us that hope sustains and uplifts the human spirit.
Enter the Studio Insider Raffle
For a limited time, you can enter to win an exclusive chance to join Ryan Roberts and Lia Booth in the studio during the recording session. Even if you don’t win, your entry helps sustain this project, and every participant is directly supporting music education and emotional literacy programs.
Music & Self-Expression Workshop
The Music & Self-Expression Workshop is an educational program that explores music as a tool for emotional literacy, resilience, and community connection. Led by bassist Ryan Roberts and vocalist Lia Booth, the workshop guides participants on a profound journey of self-expression, using the art of jazz and song to help them discover the power of their emotions, find clarity and courage, and build emotional resilience.
Designed for schools, colleges, community ensembles, and arts organizations, the workshop can be tailored to fit a variety of settings. Formats range from 90–120 minute clinics to half-day and full-day intensives, as well as multi-week residencies. Each session typically flows from an opening circle and guided improvisation into the study of a song, concluding with a reflective dialogue that anchors the musical and emotional discoveries of the day.
Participants walk away with more than musical skills—they gain deeper emotional awareness, creative confidence, and a stronger sense of self-expression. The experience emphasizes ensemble listening, improvisation, and reflection, cultivating not only musicianship but also personal growth and connection.