The Jazz Gallery Residency Commissions: Arta Jēkabsone's "Searching for a Song"

Photo by Una Stade.

This weekend, The Jazz Gallery is pleased to present the final 2020-21 Residency Commission project: Searching for a Song, from singer/composer Arta Jēkabsone. As a singer, Jēkabsone has turned heads at international competitions, including as a finalist in this month’s Sarah Vaughan competition at NJPAC. Beyond her vocal artistry, Jēkabsone is a perceptive composer and curator, developing interdisciplinary projects that expand across style, media, and time period.

Earlier this spring, Jēkabsone presented Letters to Home as part of The Jazz Gallery’s online series. Based on letters by Latvian writers from different time periods, the project combined music and projections to tell a story of finding home, wherever that may be. Check out the song “If Only I Knew” from the project, below.

In Searching for a Song, Jēkabsone deepens the exploration of her musical preoccupations—space, lyricism, nature, light—with an expanded musical palette. In addition to working with longtime collaborators like pianist Theo Walentiny, guitarist Lucas Kadish, and drummer Connor Parks, Jēkabsone has assembled a band featuring strings, flute, and harp, adding a delicate haze to her lushly-textured compositions. This is a Search well-worth joining.

The Jazz Gallery 2020-21 Residency Commision Series presents Arta Jēkabsone’s Searching for a Sound on Friday, November 26, and Saturday, November 27, 2021. The group features Ms. Jēkabsone on vocals, Theo Walentiny on piano, Lucas Kadish on guitar, Hannah Marks on bass, Connor Parks on drums, Zosha Warpeha on violin, Abby Swidler on viola, Tamar Frankel Damari harp, Kana Miyamoto on flute, and Alfredo Colon on alto sax. Sets are at 7:30 and 9:30 P.M. E.S.T. each night. $25 general admission ($10 for members), $35 reserved table seating ($20 for members) for each set. The Saturday sets will be livestreamed, $20 for access ($5 for members). Purchase tickets here.