INGRID LAUBOCK

PURPOSING THE AIR

Pyroclastic Records

Ingrid Laubock, composer/arranger; Fay Victor, Theo Bleckmann and Sara Serpa, vocals; Rachel Calloway, mezzo-soprano; Ari Streisfeld, violin; Mariel Roberts, cellist; Matt Mitchell, piano; Ben Monder, guitarist; Duo Corona, contemporary classical music ensemble.

Ingrid Laubock is an experimental saxophonist and composer. The Director of the Kennedy Center, pianist Jason Moran, named Laubock a “true visionary.”  However, you will not hear her saxophone on this double set album. With this two-disc release, the saxophonist is a composer/arranger who experiments with a blend of various voices merged with instrumentalists and the poetry of Erica Hunt. Together, these duets interpret Laubock’s original compositions.

Disc one opens with the voice of Fay Victor featured. Mariel Roberts adds his improvised cello to the mix. Laubock has tailored each short song to feature the words of poet Erica Hunt, honing words from Hunt’s emotional poem titled “Mood Librarian – a poem in koan.”  She just uses short fragments of Hunt’s poetry, a few lines at a time. For example, the vocalist repetitively sings on Track #2 one line, “Catch the ball and now I throw it.” Laubock became fascinated with Erica Hunt’s writing when she was reading her poetry volume titled “Jump the Clock.”

“The Texts of the poem are open and concise, often cryptic, but still poignant and relatable,” Ingrid Laubock explains in her press package.

On the first Compact Disc, there are thirty very brief tunes. None are longer than two short moments or less. On Track five, Fay Victor’s voice whines like a kitten.  On Track #6, Victor sings one line repeatedly with the cello marching beneath her repetitive vocals. When they interpret Track #7, the cello, played by Mariel Roberts, becomes quite percussive. There is an American Indian type of strumming rhythm that cushions the vocals. These short vignettes have triggered something in the creative mind of Ingrid Laubock who composed songs from the evocative images and impressions that Hunt’s poetry inspired.

This is experimental music that pushes boundaries and challenges my artistic expectations. It’s divided into four suites of duet presentations.

“I met Erica Hunt at a party in 2019, and we had a fascinating conversation about her poetry. … I began setting the words to music in February 2021 as part of a master’s degree in composition. The first duo I composed for was Duo Cortona, (a contemporary classical music ensemble) featuring mezzo-soprano Rachel Calloway and violinist Ari Streisfeld,” Laubock shares.

You will hear this duet between Calloway and Streisfeld on Disc two.

An accompanying sheet, inside the CD, spreads the poetic words out like singular statements numbering sixty. This is a study in duo presentations, composed by Laubock, and interpreted by her talented friends. The second half of the first CD spotlights a duo set performed by Matt Mitchell’s piano and Sara Serpa’s voice. On Disc two, you will also hear electric guitarist Ben Monder and vocalist, Theo Bleckmann. Then Duo Cortona, featuring Rachel Calloway on vocals and Ari Streisfeld’s violin.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil