Rara Avis, founded in 2017, consists of Jodi Gilbert (voice), Tineke de Jong (violin) and Albert van Veenendaal (piano). The highly imaginative and acrobatic singing style of Jodi, the classical training and curiosity of Tineke, and Albert’s pictorial musicality have made this trio evolve into a group that specializes in a multifaceted form of improvised chamber music.
They find inspiration in a wide variety of texts including the eternal wisdom of the 14th-century Sufi poet Hafez, the poems of the Japanese poet Yosa Buson, a novel from F. Scott Fitzgerald, humorous modern newspaper headlines, and a Handbook of Roses. Other texts are composed on the spot, or written by Jodi Gilbert. In the midst of a lockdown period that many will never forget they found mental space and time to record the album “How Do I listen”, named after a poem by Hafez.
During the recording sessions they discovered that a totally free form of improvisation suited them best at that moment, whereas they previously also used compositions combined with improvisation.
Composers in the crosshairs of our attention