SARA SERPA

ENCOUNTERS & COLLISIONS

Biophilia Records

Sara Serpa, vocals/composer/lyrics/stories/drawings; Ingrid Laubrock, saxophone; Angelica Sanchez, piano; Erik Friedlander, cello.

Sara Serpa offers us intimate music born of autobiographical experiences. The title of this album says it all, “Encounters & Collisions.”  Her stories display personal life lessons regarding migration, motherhood, family, language, loss and art.  Her themes are shared by her original compositions and lyrics, but also by scripted diary-readings that introduce each new musical journey.  We walk with Sara, step by step through her melodies, lyrics, trials and tribulations, joys and frustrations.

“The lyrics are an exercise in discovering how can I simplify the ideas and still make them somehow poetic or beautiful.  I wanted them to be not just plain text, but also reflect a very specific mood, emotion and feeling,” Serpa explained.

Her first song and story is about “Language,” about people not being able to say her name. The music is moody and richly melodic.  Her soprano voice moves through the intervals like cream covering peaches.  Her music is smooth and sweet, fresh and unpretentious like her stories.

Her second song was inspired by an experience obtaining a Visa as a music student from Portugal. She incorporates spoken word into her music, partially burying her words beneath a busy saxophone by Ingrid Laubrock, Friedlander’s cello, and a striking piano played by Agnelica Sanchez.  The trio lays their inspired accompaniment against her vocals, like loose soil above the seed of something that has not quite taken root. This project represents Serpa’s personal journey of relocating to a new country, a new school, adjusting to a new language and new cultures.  This is experimental music with purpose.  She describes the pace of New York and New Yorkers with her song “Things Must Move Quickly.”  Then, on “Between Worlds,” Erik Friedlander shines during his cello accompaniment.

Sara Serpa has previously recorded and studied with the great Ran Blake.  I enjoyed her interpretation of “Night and Day.”

But this new project is nothing like singing standards.  This is a multifarious production that exposes her emotions and inner truths, allowing Serpa to incorporate her journalism skills with her music appreciation in a package. I wish the person who mastered this project had brought her spoken word stories up in ‘the mix’ for better clarity.  On the whole, Serpa is an inspired artist who considers herself an improviser, composer, a singer using her voice as an instrument, and a visual artist.  This album project spotlights Sara Serpa’s personal life and experimental multi-talents.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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