Sara Serpa at The Stone article @ All About Jazz

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data-original-title=”” title=””>Matt Mitchell,

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data-original-title=”” title=””>Mark Turner, and

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data-original-title=”” title=””>Qasim Naqvi; and regular collaborators

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data-original-title=”” title=””>Marta Sanchez,

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data-original-title=”” title=””>Dan Weiss,

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data-original-title=”” title=””>Greg Ward, and

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data-original-title=”” title=””>Ches Smith.

She was also joined by two fiercely talented up-and-coming musicians,

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data-original-title=”” title=””>Devon Gates and ”
data-original-title=”” title=””>Yvonne Rogers. Serpa is actively involved in mentorship programs, and has been a mentor to both Gates (through M3: Mutual Mentorship for Musicians) and Rogers (through Next Jazz Legacy). Rogers is an inventive pianist and a gifted composer, and Gates is a vibrant bassist with a deep time-feel. The programs couldn’t have better ambassadors than these.

All four nights were compelling, and packed with beautiful playing, but to this reviewer’s ears the first and fourth were especially thrilling. The first group was bursting with musical energy and ideas. Smith’s drumming was virtuosic, filling the space with frenetic but precise chaos. Rogers lent deep and varied texture to every tune, and her compositions “New Piece” and “Brackish” were highlights of the set. Oh was the group’s musical center, and so in sync with Serpa that at times her bass and their two voices sounded almost as one collective instrument.

The fourth group was possibly the tightest band of all, due in no small part to Serpa and Matos’ long partnership. Matos is one of the very best players of the Telecaster in contemporary jazz, with a remarkable sense of line, and his compositions lingered in my head long after the music ended. Gates was propulsive, and locked in with Weiss, whose groove and ornamentation alike were tasteful and delightfully creative.

Although Serpa was always integrated into her bands, a true equal in the ensemble, her singing couldn’t help but be the focal point. And the week saw her in excellent form: leaping and diving through her impressive range, her tone by turns warm and lyrical or pure and bell-like, displaying a remarkable degree of control over her instrument.

Over the four nights, they performed only two pieces not written by Sara or another member of the band:

”
data-original-title=”” title=””>Jim Hall‘s “Careful,” and “Les Bergers” from Messiaen’s “La Nativité du Seigneur.” That pairing alone suggests the degree of stylistic range and intermingling of disparate musical language that Serpa brought to the stage, but her adaptation of “Les Bergers” stood apart. Hearing a classical piece at a jazz show is already a rarity, and Messiaen is a particularly challenging composer to reinterpret. But Serpa delivered a stunning performance, remaining faithful to the original melodic motifs and themes while also using them as generative material for a striking improvised acapella interlude. Mark Turner’s sax solo on the piece was similarly thoughtful and expressive.

Perhaps because of Serpa’s tendency to blur the boundaries between her improvisation and composition, perhaps because she’s a woman, or because she’s a singer, her capacities as a composer tend to go underrecognized. But she is a subtle, sophisticated composer, whose songs range from sweetly melodic to sharply angular. Although she gave a lot of time to compositions by her bandmates, the whole range of her compositional voice was on display. “Sol Engandor” was lyrical and mysterious, “Object” was hypnotic, “Degrowth” was minimal and sincere, and “Os Outros” was tenderly uplifting.

But one song stood out, with its wordless duet of an introduction that gave way to a beautiful song about our existence in time and in relation to the ones we love. This was “A Mother’s Heart,” a meditation on the contrasting love and fear of motherhood, written for both her mother and her son. It will be on her new album Encounters and Collisions which releases November 15th on Biophilia Records.

Above the Noise

All About Jazz: Programming four completely different nights of music is a challenge. What were your considerations in putting together the different bands & sets? Was there specific music or collaborations you wanted to highlight?

Sara Serpa: My goals were to explore the range of music I have been writing over the last few years and to explore different aspects of my voice across my different projects.

It’s quite a blessing to have the opportunity to present four nights of music in a row and play with such amazing musicians every night. This time I tried to keep it simple and sing music that I have memorized and am familiar with, so that when leading the bands I could connect immediately with the musicians without struggling over the material.

AAJ: The Stone is a pretty unique project for a venue. What role has it played for you personally, and in shaping today’s jazz scene?

SS: It’s one of the few venues where people can experiment and try out all kinds of music without being concerned with having a product to sell, or worrying about ticket sales, or if the venue will like the music or hire you again. These kinds of venues where bands are allowed to develop their sound are becoming rare and it’s sad.

It’s also a very equitable venue—you can see musicians from different generations, gender identities, and scenes presenting their work here. And all the door money goes to the musicians!

AAJ: You’ve been very involved in mentorship work—most notably through M3, but also with Next Jazz Legacy. How has that impacted your experience and understanding of the musical communities you exist in?

SS: I remember being a 20-30 year old moving to NYC and following my jazz idols around the city. I searched for guidance and musical connection, and it was quite challenging to find that kind of relationship in such a deeply male-dominated scene. I would hear about male colleagues who would hang out until late in the morning, or sleep over at their male teachers’ places, and think how that would never be possible for me as a female student.

This new initiative, M3, provides so many opportunities for both younger and older musicians—connections that I never thought were possible before. And the quality of the music being produced by the musicians involved is outstanding. With M3,

”
data-original-title=”” title=””>Jen Shyu and I are starting to address multiple shortcomings in our scene: recognition of over 65 musicians from underrepresented gender identities, performance opportunities, representation, publication of writings by musicians, and an ethical and equitable platform to connect with each other.

AAJ: Most of your music is wordless, even though you’ve consistently also written songs with lyrics. More recently, you’ve begun to incorporate spoken-word voiceover. What is the relationship between music and language for you as a composer and as a singer?

SS: I don’t see a distinction between music and language but I do see a distinction between verbal and non-verbal singing. With words, the context is more specific, words have meaning and intention. They define much more the emotions of the music. It took me a while to be able to express myself in English. And it took me a while to let go of the embarrassment of singing in my native language, which is so crazy to say.

AAJ: Your newer releases (Intimate Strangers, Recognition, Night Birds) have been topical and political in a way that wasn’t present in your earlier work. What prompted that shift, and how has it impacted your compositional process and the resulting music?

SS: I like to think that more than political, my work is humanist. What does it mean to be human, to live, to witness this world? How do we bring attention to what matters to us? How can we rise above the noise? Being a mother probably heightened my sense of responsibility and gave me an opportunity to reflect on my values. But music has always been a way for me to process the world and the reality around me. For some that might be political, but perhaps all is just personal.

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