A Convincing Singer

by Dr. Helmut Christoferus Calabrese ©2004

‘Chanteuse,’ with soprano Jacqueline Humbert. Songs by J. Humbert, Sam Ashley, David Rosenboom, Joan La Barbara, Robert Ashley, George Manupelli, James Tenny, Larry Polansky, Gustavo Matamoros, & Katrina Krimsky. Lovely Music, Ltd: LCD 4001

Jacqueline Humbert

The Chanteuse CD states “songs of a different sort.” My review is based on the Lovely Music, Ltd. recording dated 2004. “Songs of a different sort” may be an underestimate. Some of the songs are not really song forms.
Mosquitolove by Sam Ashley is filled with cricket sounds and other terrestrial creatures, including dripping water and the smooth voice recanting lyrics that state, “I.......was in paradise with cannibals…Dreaming is roaming through space and time.” Jacqueline Humbert is very convincing; she incorporates the poem and becomes one with ephemeral acoustic environment. Attunement by David Rosenboom has an electronic sound accompaniment to the narration, “Socializing with the rocks,” which becomes more processed as time elapses. Via Dolorita, street of sorrows, street of sighs by Joan La Barbara takes its title appropriately with a “soundscape” of sighs, murmurs, and humming in a polyphony of human wordless expressions. Don’t Get Your Hopes Up by Robert Ashley, included in his opera Dust, is a parody of what people find ordinary; it uses electronic detuned sounds. Short Subject by George Manupelli begins with sounds of doors opening and a truck pulling away. A hilarious melody begins, “I love you, I miss you, I need you, Written from another (wo)man’s bed[!]” Profile by Jacqueline Humbert is an interview between psychologist and neurotic patient; Ms. Humbert overdubs both characters. She is humorous, evocative, and very convincing. Listen by James Tenny has lyrics that describe man’s devastation of the environment and the human race; the music is a piano plucking away in ostinato fashion. A Pregnant Pause by Larry Polansky is reminiscent of a Gyorgy Ligeti score until it cadences in a parody of harmony. Peace Piece by Gustavo Matamoros is a processed voice with an electronic high-pitch sound accompanying the narrator. Empty Words by Robert Ashley is a time-warp music that gets acoustically closer over the crackling sound of a fire using a tuneful melody on marimba; the composition is a time shifting experience on multi-levels. Grace by Katrina Krimsky is lovely, poetic, and electronic; the voice smoothly romances the lyrics, “Leave the past and that ol’place, Layered with years of tonal lace.” The electronic music does this: it layers the tonal lace. Adieu by J. Humbert and D. Rosenboom is the sound of a narrator with rain falling in the background and echoing sounds of organs and electronics. Oasis in the Air by J. Humbert and D. Rosenboom is interesting in its juxtaposition of electronic sounds, vocals, percussion, and time shifting melodies. There is quite an assortment of styles in this collection; it is a collage of our electronic music heritage juxtaposed with simple melody processed by a randomness that is a metaphor of our contemporary lives.