CATHARINE CARY – AIR CAKE and other summery occupations
Out: June 21st, 2024, from Orchard of Pomegranates (DL)
Genres: improvised music, spoken word, children’s
As Catharine Cary herself aptly puts it “AIR CAKE is an invitation to see the world upside down.” Indeed this recording — Cary’s first—makes what seems like an absurd proposition. On it, she takes her original children’s stories, themselves the whimsical product of spontaneity, and combines them with improvised music. As she brings these peculiar tales to life, in her characteristic animated delivery, the words bounce and flutter beside and between the contributions of her two musical compatriots Eric Lewis (Cornet, Bass Clarinet and Toys) and Ivan Bamford (Drums and Toys). It all comes together seamlessly.
Delving into Catharine Cary’s curious back-story, this outlandish fusion begins to make more sense. Born in New York City, she trained as a diplomat, and then worked as a project manager on various urban development initiatives—the last of which was building the New Amsterdam Theatre for Disney on NYC’s 42nd Street. In 1997, at age 36, she left corporate life and relocated to Paris to become a painter. Her first show was a mere two years later and subsequently her paintings and drawings have been featured in galleries and private collections, not to mention shown in art basel/Miami, Art Chicago, and the offs of the FIAC (Foire Internationale d’Art Contemporain).In 2011 her installation WHISPER, which she describes as “a dress of silk organza sewn with 80 envelopes filled with essential elegant ephemera,”was featured in the Venice Biennale. Following the death of her partner, her art shifted to embrace a variety of performative and improvisation practices, in voice, movement, writing, and graffiti. She is the founder of the international and decidedly interdisciplinary What IIIF? Improvisation Festival, and alongside Marie Desoubeaux and Marguerite Papazoglou, co-founded Instant Pudding!, a platform for Instant Composition in Dance.
Catharine Cary is clearly someone who has grown comfortable with reimagining, and it was this very spirit of openness that birthed AIR CAKE. The project started as a means to connect with her young nephew during the pandemic. She improvised stories into her phone’s voice memo app and sent them to him. Naturally he found them quite amusing. Eventually Cary started to share them with some of her friends.
Ayelet Rose Gottlieb, Montréal vocalist, composer, and the curator of the Orchard of Pomegranates label (and founder of the community of the same name), was one of these select few. “There it was, a story from Catharine,” recalls Gottlieb in the album’s liner notes, “She told me about these stories before but I wasn’t sure what to expect. I pressed play and allowed myself to jump into her imagined world, the giggles of my children providing the perfect soundtrack. It was brilliant.” Gottlieb was instantly convinced that these eccentric tales warranted a wider listenership of all ages.
Though unconventional, the idea for an album was a natural one that extended directly from Gottlieb and Cary’s existing connection. Gottlieb had just started her label, which serves as a vehicle for improvisation-driven vocal music, and as Cary’s vocal teacher, she had witnessed the musicality and charisma of Cary’s delivery first-hand. Pairing the stories with improvised music honours and accentuates the underlying spontaneity of the texts, offering a fresh and exciting sound to engage young listeners of all ages.
Cornettist and Bass Clarinetist Eric Lewis, known for his work in Murray St. Band, Ratchet Orchestra as well as in McGill University’s Philosophy Department, and drummer Ivan Bamford of Eyevin Trio, Gadji-Gadjo, and Togetherness! are both fixtures in Montréal’s energetic improvised music coterie, and beyond. Bamford, a transplant from Vancouver, routinely collaborates within various traditional musics while the impact of Lewis’ research extends well outside of the academic realm. Together they provide agile, playful, thoughtful and above all else, thoroughly listenable accompaniment to the cast of characters depicted by Cary.
It’s a recording that will offer new forms of delight for seasoned fans of creative music, while also captivating listeners of all ages that are susceptible to wonder.
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CATHARINE CARY – AIR CAKE and other summery occupations
Out: June 21, 2024 on Orchard of Pomegranates (DL)
Genres: improvised music, spoken word, children’s
Tracklist:
1. Daisy Day
2. Lazy Day
3. Leila and her Animules
4. Weaving Leaves
5. Dust and the Middle
6. Clementine
7. Leila and Her Gifts From the Sea
8. Climbing the Rhune
9. AIR CAKE
Line up:
Stories improvised, written and finally told by Catharine Cary
Cornet, Bass Clarinet and Toys by Eric Lewis
Drums and Toys by Ivan Bamford
Recorded at Hotel2Tango on 28 August 2023
Producer: Ayelet Rose Gottlieb
Recording & Mixing Engineer: Ky Brooks
Mastering Engineer : Chris Gestrin
Album Art: Catharine Cary
Graphic Designer: Chelsey Maher.