Sara Serpa
Sara Serpa is a singer, composer, improviser who implements a unique instrumental approach to her vocal style. Recognized for her distinctive wordless singing, Serpa has been immersed in the field of jazz, improvised and experimental music since first arriving in New York in 2008. Described by JazzTimes magazine as "a master of wordless landscapes" and by the New York Times as "a singer of silvery poise and cosmopolitan outlook," Serpa started her recording and performing career with jazz luminaries such as Grammy-nominated pianist, Danilo Perez, Guggenheim and MacArthur Fellow pianist, Ran Blake, and Greg Osby. ...
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Sara Serpa
Sara Serpa is a singer, composer, improviser who implements a unique instrumental approach to her vocal style. Recognized for her distinctive wordless singing, Serpa has been immersed in the field of jazz, improvised and experimental music since first arriving in New York in 2008. Described by JazzTimes magazine as "a master of wordless landscapes" and by the New York Times as "a singer of silvery poise and cosmopolitan outlook," Serpa started her recording and performing career with jazz luminaries such as Grammy-nominated pianist, Danilo Perez, Guggenheim and MacArthur Fellow pianist, Ran Blake, and Greg Osby.
Her ethereal music draws from a broad variety of inspirations including literature, film, visual arts as well as history and nature. As a leader, she has produced and released nine albums, (with labels Sunnyside Records, Clean Feed, Tzadik and Inner Circle Music); the latest being "All The Dreams" in collaboration with guitarist André Matos. Serpa has collaborated with an extensive array of musicians including John Zorn, Guillermo Klein, Zeena Parkins, Mark Turner, Tyshawn Sorey, Nicole Mitchell, among many others.
Currently, Serpa leads a trio with Erik Friedlander (cello) and Ingrid Laubrock (tenor sax), with a debut album coming out in March 2018 (Close Up/ Clean Feed) , and a trio featuring Zeena Parkins (harp) and Mark Turner (tenor sax) in an interdisciplinary performance, combining film with live music entitled "Recognition".
Ran Blake
In a career that spans five decades, pianist/composer/educator RAN BLAKE has created a unique niche in improvised music as an artist and educator. With a characteristic mix of spontaneous solos, modern classical tonalities, the great American blues and gospel traditions, and themes from classic Film Noir, Blake's singular sound has earned a dedicated following all over the world. His dual musical legacy includes nearly 50 albums on some of the world's finest jazz labels, as well almost 50 years as a groundbreaking educator at Boston's New England Conservatory.
A recent Italian reviewer, Vincenzo Roggero, sums up Ran's merging of traditions and unique noir piano style: "Blake combines Max Roach with Edith Piaf, Duke Ellington with Stevie Wonder, Nino Rota with Yiddish music. All lit by his unique style influenced by the blues as the gospel, classical as jazz, but inimitable in combining these elements through touches almost imperceptible, silences full density, sparse but decisive cluster, lines dangerously poised between tonality and dissonance. It is music played on whispers, rather than shouts, but no less intense or penetrating."
Ran's most recent recordings are "Ghost Tones: Portraits of George Russell" (A-Side Records, 2015), "Live at the Kitano" w/Sara Serpa (Sunnyside, 2015), "Down Here Below, Vol. 2: A Tribute to Abbey Lincoln" w/Christine Correa (RedPiano, 2015), "Chabrol Noir: A Tribute to Claude Chabrol" w/Ricky Ford (impulse!, 2016), and Town and Country w/ Dominique Eade (Sunnyside, 2017).
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