Terrible Baubles
poetry chapbook published by Alternating Current, 2009
Lo Galluccio, Eric Zinman, and Jane Wang
A Collaboration
That’s Just Pure Brilliance
Review by Gloria Mindock
Review by Gloria Mindock
Sometimes, it is not easy for musicians to put poetry to
music or for the poet, to put words to music.
This is not the case with “Terrible Baubles.” The poet, Lo Galluccio, who is also a singer
with an avant-garde flair, brings her poems to life. She intertwines her words with the musicians
who sometimes improvise and other times play composed music. They all collaborate so well together that
this drives them to new heights and they just soar.
Lo Galluccio reads her poetry, sings, chants, speaks on this
CD with guts, emotion, tenderness, and does so with a blues style voice. Her poems are surreal, edgy, playful, and go
where you don’t expect them to. Some of
my favorite lines from her chapbook and on this CD are: “Silver fish in black
waves keep secrets/gesturing with fins” from Center of Gravity. “Like
dark birds/the grass at my left wrist/is pulled into the dream” from Three Dollar Poem. The music in Three Dollar Poem sounds improvised. The instruments paint the picture and
intensify as the words and singer does.
Another I liked is “Someone offers their eyes/and I must
find a cake of stones/to give” from Birthday. This song provides a break from the rest
of the CD with a gentler melody.
Lo Galluccio has collaborated with Eric Zinman several
times. He plays piano, percussion,
keyboard, and does voice on this CD. He
has been in the Boston/NYC scene for years.
Jane Wang is a composer, music improviser and is a performance and
installation artist. With these two
musicians in Lo Galluccio’s corner, she can do no wrong. Even if she didn’t have these musicians, she still
could do no wrong. She is that good.
Jane Wangs cello in “I Had a True Love” is beautiful. The song and mood blends well and all of them
compliment each other. This song is more pop sounding with a more lyrical
melody. On the song Adam, the prominent music introduces each chanted phrase with
intermittent cymbals. In Grief as Frenzy, the piano accompanies
the singer with a repetitive motif in the beginning and the end. The percussion plays varied rhythms and Lo’s
wide vocal range is extended with the notes she sings. The music and vocals climax in the middle
section where it breaks the repetitive movement and the music range expands
into a freer sound. This piece
highlights the cellist rich lyrical tone.
When Lo and Eric sang in Grand
Failed Experiment, it was brilliantly done with both cello and percussion musically
having a dialogue with each other.
This CD has a good sense of ensemble and the instruments
compliment the singer. I highly
recommend this CD. Order it, you will
love it!
This is Lo Galluccio’s third CD. Her first two are Spell on You and Being
Visited. For more information about
these artists, please check out their websites.
http://myspace.com/logalluccio
http://myspace.com/logalluccio
http://www.ericzinman.com
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