Listen! presents...
Skylla
+ Margrit Hasler
Skylla is the solo project of composer and bassist Ruth Goller, featuring herself on bass guitar and vocals and the unique, ethereal voices of Lauren Kinsella and Alice Grant. Working with different tunings for each song, Ruth composes instinctively based on what she hears in every moment. As she says, 'at that point muscle memory doesn't work anymore, so I have to trust my ear completely'.
Coming from the border region between Italy and Austria, Ruth grew up fascinated by the differences and similarities in the intentions behind speech. This ear for words has influenced her approach to vocals, improvising them through streams of consciousness around her bass playing, focusing on the sound and feeling, and almost inventing a new language through abstraction. Ruth explains, 'Music is a language and I always want to learn as much as I can about it.'
For the album Skylla, released in summer 2021, Ruth recorded all the vocals alone, before inviting celebrated vocalists Lauren Kinsella and Alice Grant to lend their voices to particular pieces, with the knowledge that they would rise to the challenge of singing words free of language to irregular tunings. The album, on Vula Viel Records, was produced and mixed by Kit Downes.
Skylla takes after the mythical three-headed sea monster of the same name, the music is both mysterious and arresting in its own intimate and unique way.
'Lush textures to bathe in... very close, intimate sound... so close and tactile that you can feel the music stroking you on the shoulder.' - Corey Mwamba (BBC Radio 3)
'A rounded tone and a springing attack that constantly underpins the musical shape and character. A deep experience.' - John Fordham (The Guardian)
Margrit Hasler ~ viola with pedals
Margrit's musical and personal journey has seen her engaging with a wide variety of people, scenes and styles, from a classical career playing with some of the greatest conductors such as Solti and Haitink, to improvisation studies with Jenny Scheinman and Charlie Burnham in New York, and UK tours with Mark Lockheart's Ellington in Anticipation and Chris Batchelor's Zoetic.
In her new solo project Margrit presents a set for viola with pedals, transforming a wide range of pieces by some of her favourite musicians, including Bill Frisell and Maurice Ravel, alongside a fresh approach to tunes from the bluegrass tradition.
Saturday 29th October 2022
Unitarian Church, 5 Emmanuel Road, Cambridge CB1 1JW
Doors 7.30pm / music 8pm
£15 (+ £1.50 booking fee) in advance from
www.wegottickets.com/listencambridge
£18 on the door if available
No bar this evening , but you're welcome to bring your own drinks and glasses.