The Paris Sessions, Vol. 2: Speaking in Tongues by the Sikora Culpo Duo

The Paris-based duo of saxophonist Catherine Sikora and pianist Christopher Culpo releases The Paris Sessions, Volume 2: Speaking in Tongues. Their music has been described as open and responsive, with musical lines that are cohesive and together yet spring into unexpected directions, diverging and then converging, filled with surprise and humor. In sum: free and fresh.

Vol. 2: Speaking in Tongues

Open your mind and listen!

Lynn René Bayley

The duo was formed in 2014, when Sikora was artist in residence at the Centre Culturel Irlandais in Paris. The two artists began their collaboration immediately upon meeting, establishing a musical rapport that has continued to evolve in the following years.

In February 2020 the duo reconvened in Paris and spent a full week in residence at L’Atelier de la Main d’Or, dedicating whole days to recording and ending the week with a live concert. The resulting music reflects the evolution of the duo into a distinct creative unit, with an aesthetic that is unique to itself, reflective of both musicians but standing very much apart from their work in other settings. It is also a new chapter: for the first time Catherine brought her soprano saxophone to Paris; until then the duo had always been tenor saxophone and piano. Christopher Culpo has a long history of working with masters of the soprano saxophone, including the legendary Steve Lacy, and this new work is a logical next step in that creative legacy.

Vol. 1: Mimesis and the double album

The Paris Sessions Volume 1: Mimesis was released on Bandcamp only in April 2020 and has been praised by critics and fans alike. Together with Volume 2, the resulting double album is released on all major platforms on 4 September 2020. Both albums feature original artwork for each track, created by the artist Anne Graaff directly in response to the music.

Catherine Sikora (soprano saxophone, composition) · Christopher Culpo (piano, composition)
All tracks ©℗ Catherine Sikora / Sikoracat Music BMI, Christopher Culpo SACEM
Recorded at L’Atelier de la Main d’Or, Paris · recording by David Tepfer, Catherine Sikora and Christopher Culpo · mixed and mastered by Eric Mingus
Artwork by Anne Graaff, annegraaff.com

About Catherine Sikora

Saxophonist Catherine Sikora is known primarily for her work as a free improviser, solo and in ensembles. Her big, expressive tone and the seamless integration of extended techniques into her melodic structures are unique and deeply personal. She is intensely interested in the art of practice, seeing it as a creative art form in itself, distinct from the art of performance. She has performed on stages in the United States and Europe, as well as in Australia and Canada.

Sikora’s first solo album, Jersey, a set of improvisations for tenor saxophone, was released on Relative Pitch Records in July 2016, and a second solo work for soprano saxophone, Warrior, was released in August 2019. Other notable recent recordings include the duo record untitled: after with Brooklyn drummer Brian Chase (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Drums and Drones), Chrysalis, a duo with Eric Mingus, The Paris Sessions Volume 1: Mimesis and The Spectral Life of Things with Christopher Culpo, the trio Eris 136199 with Han-earl Park and Nick Didkovsky, and The Mind’s Mural with Enrique Haneine and his quartet. Further releases with Eris 136199, Christopher Culpo and Paul G Smyth, and solo (Warrior ii), were announced for later in 2020.

Sikora is active as an educator, working with students on advanced improvisation concepts and creativity strategies, as well as on overcoming performance anxiety and other musical inhibitions.

Catherine Sikora is a virtuosic firebrand on tenor and soprano saxophones whose star is on the rise.

The Brooklyn Rail

About Christopher Culpo

Christopher Culpo is a performer and composer whose work lies at the confluence of contemporary classical music, jazz and free improvisation. He has written chamber and symphonic music, vocal music and opera, music for dance and theatre, and has composed and improvised music for silent films.

His performing career has taken him to stages as diverse as the Cluny Jazz Festival (France), Blossoms Festival (Belgium), The Old Town House in Cape Town (South Africa), Musicafoscari/San Servolo Jazz Fest Venezia (Italy), the Radar Festival, Festival Eurojazz (Mexico), the Adelaide Cabaret Festival and the Sydney Opera House (Australia). His most recent albums are The Spectral Life of Things (2018) and Mimesis (2020) with Catherine Sikora. His composition Mundus Imaginalis for solo piano and strings won second prize in the IV International Uuno Klami Composition Competition and was performed and recorded in Finland in November 2019.

But, After Midnight, Before Dawn by Christopher Culpo was the real gem of the evening. Written for string quartet with two percussionists, it’s a strikingly vivid work that explores the elusive worlds of sleeping and dreaming, to hallucinogenic effect.

Stephen Brookes, The Washington Post

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