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| Beating Are In The Body (Róisín Adams, Peggy Lee, Erika Angell) announcing debut (out 26 May) Beatings Are In The Body is a powerful and enigmatic new project from three of Canada's leading figures in experimental music—Vancouver-based pianist, composer, and improviser Róisin Adams (of Hildegard's Ghost), Montréal-based experimental vocalist and composer Erika Angell (of Thus Owls), and fellow Vancouverite Peggy Lee—a renowned cellist, composer and improviser. As their name indicates, there's a raw, volatile dimension to the music they create; it's an investigation of how memories, pain, and a spectrum of emotions are stored in and continue to be carried by our physical bodies. Their unflinching self-titled debut full-length resides in the dark fissures between adventurous acoustic songcraft, poetry, and the outright abstraction of free improv. The trio's unique approach was sparked serendipitously in late 2018 when Adams and Angell were set up on an artistic blind-date by Vancouver presenters Sawdust Collector and Barking Sphinx. Prior to their performance, the pair passed ideas and sounds back and forth through email—a mixture of voice memos and scores—until they arrived at several compositions. Each piece had a cohesive identity yet also contained ample room for improvisation. As this initial material coalesced, they reached out to Lee, to join them. The resultant 30-minute continuous performance flowed deftly between fixed material and spontaneity. It was a potent enough experience for everyone involved that the trio decided to continue their collaboration. It also elicited an invitation from the Vancouver International Jazz Festival to play their event the following year. Their forthcoming LP emerges from the same synergy that underpinned their very first live engagement. While each player contributes compositions, there's a seamlessness to the ensemble playing that illustrates their strong collective creativity. The sonic intimacy that they've cultivated as a group serves to amplify the visceral impact of the sound and writing, which grapples with topics such as grieving, aging, illness, and mortality. Although there's undeniable gravity to their choice of subject matter, there's an interplay and tangible sense of discovery in the work that permits a multitude of other emotional resonances to enter the equation. The group's name is drawn from a chapbook by poet Meaghan McAneeley, whose texts provided the foundation for their initial performance, and who continues to contribute to the group. She's credited for the texts for "Dog Moon" and Like A Deepness" and provided the album's artwork and design. Another key collaborator to the group since 2020 is visual artist Melissa Hubert, who already created evocative visual accompaniment for their earlier single "No Not This No" but has also made a collection of videos that will launch alongside the present record, starting with opening cut, "Blurry." Each individual musician brings an impressive array of experience to Beatings Are In The Body. Róisín Adams leads Hildegard's Ghost, a lyrical yet curious-eared jazz quartet that also features noted players Elisa Thorn (Harp/Electronics), bassist Lyle Hopkins, and Skye Brooks on drums. She also works regularly in a trio alongside double bassist James Meger and drummer Dan Gaucher. Adams' music has been featured at the Silk Purse Jazz Waves Series, Queer Arts Festival, Sonic Boom Festival, Western Front, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, and Kay Meek Theatre. She has also collaborated with the likes of Jay Clayton, Paul Plimley, Ellwood Epps, Vicky Mettler (aka Kee Avil), Rachel Iwaasa, and the NOW Society Orchestra. Erika Angell's varied work as a musician defies rigid categorization but includes forays into noise, the avant-garde, film scores, jazz-adjacent territory, and assorted permutations of song. Originally from Sweden, Angell is now a resident of Montréal. She founded the band Thus Owls in 2007 with her husband Simon Angell, before moving to Canada in 2012. The band has since gone on to record six albums, tour internationally, and receive many accolades for their singular blend of otherworldly rock, and improvisatory exploration including a 2014 Polaris long-list nomination and a 2022 Canadian Screen Award for Best Original Song. Angell also co-led duos The Moth, and the Swedish Grammis-nominated Josef & Erika, and was a part of the noted Swedish collective, label and venue Fylkingen. She counts Kim Myhr (alongside Quatuor Bozzini), Anders Jormin (ECM Records), Liam O'Neill (of Suuns), Karl Lemieux (Godspeed You! Black Emperor), Lisen Rylander Löve (Midaircondo), Patrick Watson, Jason Sharp (Constellation Records), and Daniel Bjarnason (Sigur Rós, Ben Frost) among her many collaborators. Toronto-born, Vancouver-based cellist and composer Peggy Lee was trained in the classical tradition but has made a name for herself as a daring explorer of her instrument's rich sonic possibilities alongside the likes of Ron Samworth, Tony Wilson, Dave Douglas, Wayne Horvitz, Robin Holcomb, Veda Hille, and Lisa Miller. She was a key member of the New Orchestra Workshop, which had fruitful collaborations with Butch Morris, Wadada Leo Smith, René Lussier, Barry Guy and George Lewis. Lee currently plays a leadership (or co-lead) role in a number of musical projects: The Peggy Lee Band, Film in Music, Waxwing (with Tony Wilson and Jon Bentley) and Beautiful Tool (with Mary Margaret O'Hara). Beatings Are In The Body will be performing this summer at the following Canadian festivals: Suoni Per Il Popolo, Montréal, QC (on June 20th) and Something Else Festival, Hamilton, ON (date TBA.) write your comments about the article :: © 2023 Jazz News :: home page |