Ingrid Laubrock: Purposing the Air with Music and Voices

Today, the Spotlight shines On saxophonist and composer Ingrid Laubrock.

Ingrid's just released Purposing The Air, a double album that sets 60 brief poems by Erica Hunt to music through four different vocal-instrumental duos. It's an ambitious project that transforms Hunt's emotionally sharp koans into what Ingrid calls "a library of moods”—each piece capturing a different feeling, from the everyday to the searching.

The project began during Ingrid’s master's studies, when she met Hunt through a friend and immediately connected with the poet's work. What started as writing for one duo became something much larger: a collection where poems float through musical space, each tailored for specific performers, such as Fay Victor and Mariel Roberts, or Theo Bleckmann and Ben Monder.

(The musical excerpts heard in the interview are from Ingrid Laubrock’s album Purposing the Air)

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Dig Deeper

• Visit Ingrid Laubrock at ingridlaubrock.com and follow her on Bluesky, Facebook and YouTube
• Purchase Purposing the Air from Pyroclastic Records, Bandcamp, or Qobuz and listen on your streaming platform of choice
• Dig into this episode's complete show notes at spotlightonpodcast.com

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