By Andrew Poretz*** For London-born singer-songwriter, Tessa Souter, her new album, Shadows and Silence: The Erik Satie Project, is an ambitious work nearly 20 years in the making. The accomplished singer, of Afro-Trinidadian and English parentage, not only has a life story out of a movie, but it’s reflected in this 
epic work of reimagined music composed by the influential French composer and pianist Erik Satie—along with several additional songs that reminded Souter of him. Imbued with jazz arrangements, with evocative lyrics written by Souter, the project serves to reintroduce Satie to a modern audience. At a recent sold-out Joe’s Pub concert, Souter presented the entirety of the album live, in the same order as released.
Satie (born May 17, 1866) died a century ago on – July 1, 1925, and in tribute, about halfway through the set, at the precise moment marking his death, Souter led the audience in repeating his last words. With a reputation in his time as an eccentric, Satie, a serious and gifted composer, was a denizen of the Parisian avant-garde, who made his living as a cabaret pianist. His most renowned pieces are slow, dreamy waltzes, with numbered invented titles called “gnossiennes” and the Greek-derived “gymnopédies.” Satie’s compositions have long been the realm of connoisseurs of French classical music. But owing to its use in films and TV, the distinctive “Gymnopedie No. 1” is familiar to many listeners.
For this performance, Souter was accompanied by pianist-arranger Luis 
Perdomo, bassist Boris Kozlov, drummer Billy Drummond and soprano saxophonist Steve Wilson. All but Kozlov appear on the album. Except where indicated, the songs mentioned herein have Satie’s original titles in parenthesis, with lyrics by Souter.
Attired in a satin, sleeveless black gown, her hair upswept, the statuesque Souter made an impressive entrance. She opened with “A Song for You” (Gnossienne No 1), in French and English, with an Afro-Cuban arrangement. Souter wrote “Holding on to Beauty” (Gnossienne No 3) for her husband (Billy Drummond). This romantic-sexy song felt like a soundtrack to a love scene. After a hot soprano sax solo, the drums became increasingly intense, with an evocative, powerful climax. “Peace” (Gnossienne No 2) started quite slowly, at almost a dirge tempo. This elegiac waltz featured Kozlov’s bowed bass, which was also used on his particularly brilliant solo in “Avec le Temps” (Léo Ferré). Souter’s singing on the latter tune, entirely in French, was particularly intense and emotional.
To set up “D’Ou Venons Nous” (Gymnopedie No 3), Souter told an eloquent story of a cab driver’s wisdom while she hurried to see her dying friend, “Uncle Ken.” The driver advised that rather than feeling sad, she could be happy for her uncle’s eventual reincarnation into a new family. 
“Just as I knew you then, I will know you again,” she declared. Kozlov again bowed his bass. At the break Wilson’s fairly free-form soprano sax solo lent a sense of chaos, evoking childbirth. Souter’s rendition of “Never Broken (ESP)” (Wayne Shorter, Cassandra Wilson) utilized an (unsurprisingly excellent) arrangement by Miles Davis. The album version has trumpeter Nadje Noordhuis playing Davis’s parts, with Wilson’s soprano sax taking her place here. An extended drum solo by the appropriately named Drummond was excellent. This was the most traditional jazz track of the set.
“Rayga’s Song” (Gymnopedie No. 1) was the first complete song Souter wrote for the album, inspired by the birth of bassist/colleague/friend Yasushi Nakamura’s baby. The opening chords and riff of the underlying Satie composition are unmistakable. Souter’s lyrics were poignant and fitting. It was an interesting choice to save this as the penultimate album cut, as there is, as indicated above, nary a soul who has never heard this tune. The finale song, “Ne Me Quitte Pas/If You Go Away” (Jacques Brel, English lyrics by 
Rod McKuen), arranged by Souter, is a fairly obsessive love song, with personal, special meaning for the singer, apropos of Satie, who, for 30 years, wrote hundreds of mostly unsent letters to his only lover after their breakup. To undo the depressive mood evoked by “If You Go Away,” Souter ended the concert with a song not from the album, “Obsession,” (Dori Caymmi, English lyric by Tracy Mann).
Souter has a distinctive voice that does not evoke anyone else’s sound. She handles rhythm songs and ballads with equal skill. Her phrasing is excellent, and her ability to reach the emotion in a lyric is exceptional, especially in French: she has the rare capacity to transcend language. This show was, in many ways, exceptional. The album is best listened to in an undistracted environment, with intention and focus. (If you’re looking for “easy listening” jazz, you’ve come to the wrong place.) The live version, with Souter’s ample narrative and context, was on point.
Photos by Tracey Yarad
