Following 2020’s Stardust, a rich otherworldly album of pop and jazz romanticism, How Can I Possibly Sleep When There Is Music extends Kuplowsky’s interest with improvisational structures and live recording, as its seven-piece band crafts a singular sound of spaciousness, experimentation and unbridled expressiveness. This is music where every instrument is a character and every character is in conversation with each other: the acrobatic vocals of Felicity Williams ricochet off the unbridled virtuosity of Anh Phung’s flute and Kuplowsky’s warm, rich tenor; the dual percussionists, Evan Cartwright and Phil Melanson, interweave rhythmic counterpoint through an arsenal of beguiling sounds; Josh Cole’s deep pocket bass locks into Kuplowsky’s spidery nylon string guitar, occasionally blossoming into playful figures and brilliant somersaults; Alex Lukashevsky’s electric guitar oscillates between sensitive counterpoint, percussive wah-wah and blistering noise. Like Stardust, the album was recorded entirely live with little isolation between the seven member band, a testament to the deep listening and musical trust so central to Kuplowsky’s vision and the players he collaborates with. The three day session for tracking was led by the luminary Toronto producer/songwriter Sandro Perri, whose gentle presence and sensitivity in guiding the session and mixing the album imbues the proceedings with his ingenuity for sonic adventurism and organic warmth.
Kuplowsky dubs the group The Ryōkan Band; a nod to the improvisational playfulness central to Ryōkan’s outlook, as well as a tribute to his poetry’s influence in informing the responsive songwriting practice that inspired the album. As a band they achieve an exceptional group sound, one that is rooted in traditions of jazz, blues and folk, not as a genre exercise or pastiche, but as a means to express individual and recombinant personalities. While songwriter traditions so often attribute the voice as a song’s anchor of meaning, one might consider listening to this record with the flute, guitar, percussion, or bass as equally integral narrators of the songs. To think of the band as accompanists is to misconstrue the record’s aim; this is collaborative music in its richest sense. Signaling this approach, the record is structured with percussive interludes, titled poetically to reflect their emotional tenor or subject. These brief textural moments, absent of lyrics but rich with meaning, draw attention to the way in which the album’s mode of poetic adaptation extends far beyond the lyrics, musically embellishing animated environments to interact and broaden the poetry's scope. In “Mid Summer” the buzzing drone of harmonicas, flutes, vocals and guitars conjures a humid summer day teaming with insects, before Kuplowsky begins to recite a Ryōkan poem about a chance meeting with a friend by the waterside. In “Don’t Be Jealous of the Ocean’s Generosity ”, Anh Phung’s flute and Felicity Williams vocals trade off cascading lines mirroring the ‘jumping fish’ of the song’s refrain. In “The Frog That Wants to Make Itself As Big As An Ox”, Josh Cole’s bass bellows like a croaking amphibian, while Anh Phung’s atonal flute flourishes resemble the rapidly inflating ego and body of the titular frog.
For Kuplowsky and The Ryōkan Band adaptation is not a process of placing poetry over music, but rather an active and responsive process of interpreting and realizing the poem in an instance of music. The album is a rare occasion; a merger. Ancient and distant poet masters alive in the compositions of a masterful songwriter and brilliant improvisers. It is a translation after the translation, sensitively rendered in tribute and participation. These are songs that will echo into the future as the poems herein have leapt to us from the far past. Like Du Fu’s letter to “Pi Ssu Yao”, “we can console each other / at least we will have descendants”. Poets and musicians embrace and stroll, hand in hand.
Returning to the central question of how this record came to be, Kuplowsky concludes:
“There was no grand conceit in bringing together poems by Ryōkan Taigu, Bohdan Ihor Antonych, Maria Rainer Rilke, Yosana Akiko, Du Fu, Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī, W.W.E Ross, Li Bai, and La Fontaine. They were poems I came across that resonated and opened themselves up to song. It is in this shared resonance that a connection is forged. These are poems that reached me; they mirrored back thoughts of my own writing, while challenging or opening up new pathways and ways of thinking. In hindsight, the poets in this collection were fringe or cultish figures in their time, challenging the poetic tradition of their contemporaries. In their works, they share a recognition of creativity as an unknowable and spiritual force (Glenn’s Universal Broadcasting System), while also focusing on intimate relationships of friends and lovers. While it is partially informed by translation style, the poems that I was drawn to were cutting and direct, often using conversational, unadorned language. They carry an imperative that is powerful, sincere and beautiful.
There is a context to these poems that is equally important to their understanding. But this album is an acknowledgement of the recurring universality of their sentiments. If a song resonates with you, let that be a light towards their poetry and histories.”
Kuplowsky dubs the group The Ryōkan Band; a nod to the improvisational playfulness central to Ryōkan’s outlook, as well as a tribute to his poetry’s influence in informing the responsive songwriting practice that inspired the album. As a band they achieve an exceptional group sound, one that is rooted in traditions of jazz, blues and folk, not as a genre exercise or pastiche, but as a means to express individual and recombinant personalities. While songwriter traditions so often attribute the voice as a song’s anchor of meaning, one might consider listening to this record with the flute, guitar, percussion, or bass as equally integral narrators of the songs. To think of the band as accompanists is to misconstrue the record’s aim; this is collaborative music in its richest sense. Signaling this approach, the record is structured with percussive interludes, titled poetically to reflect their emotional tenor or subject. These brief textural moments, absent of lyrics but rich with meaning, draw attention to the way in which the album’s mode of poetic adaptation extends far beyond the lyrics, musically embellishing animated environments to interact and broaden the poetry's scope. In “Mid Summer” the buzzing drone of harmonicas, flutes, vocals and guitars conjures a humid summer day teaming with insects, before Kuplowsky begins to recite a Ryōkan poem about a chance meeting with a friend by the waterside. In “Don’t Be Jealous of the Ocean’s Generosity ”, Anh Phung’s flute and Felicity Williams vocals trade off cascading lines mirroring the ‘jumping fish’ of the song’s refrain. In “The Frog That Wants to Make Itself As Big As An Ox”, Josh Cole’s bass bellows like a croaking amphibian, while Anh Phung’s atonal flute flourishes resemble the rapidly inflating ego and body of the titular frog.
For Kuplowsky and The Ryōkan Band adaptation is not a process of placing poetry over music, but rather an active and responsive process of interpreting and realizing the poem in an instance of music. The album is a rare occasion; a merger. Ancient and distant poet masters alive in the compositions of a masterful songwriter and brilliant improvisers. It is a translation after the translation, sensitively rendered in tribute and participation. These are songs that will echo into the future as the poems herein have leapt to us from the far past. Like Du Fu’s letter to “Pi Ssu Yao”, “we can console each other / at least we will have descendants”. Poets and musicians embrace and stroll, hand in hand.
Returning to the central question of how this record came to be, Kuplowsky concludes:
“There was no grand conceit in bringing together poems by Ryōkan Taigu, Bohdan Ihor Antonych, Maria Rainer Rilke, Yosana Akiko, Du Fu, Jalāl ad-Dīn Muhammad Rūmī, W.W.E Ross, Li Bai, and La Fontaine. They were poems I came across that resonated and opened themselves up to song. It is in this shared resonance that a connection is forged. These are poems that reached me; they mirrored back thoughts of my own writing, while challenging or opening up new pathways and ways of thinking. In hindsight, the poets in this collection were fringe or cultish figures in their time, challenging the poetic tradition of their contemporaries. In their works, they share a recognition of creativity as an unknowable and spiritual force (Glenn’s Universal Broadcasting System), while also focusing on intimate relationships of friends and lovers. While it is partially informed by translation style, the poems that I was drawn to were cutting and direct, often using conversational, unadorned language. They carry an imperative that is powerful, sincere and beautiful.
There is a context to these poems that is equally important to their understanding. But this album is an acknowledgement of the recurring universality of their sentiments. If a song resonates with you, let that be a light towards their poetry and histories.”
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Luka Kuplowsky has performed sets opening for Alabaster DePlume, Aldous Harding, Jennifer Castle, The Weather Station, Julie Doiron, Martha Wainwright, Loving.
His extended community of band members include talented multi-genre artists including Evan Cartwright, Josh Cole, Felicity Williams, Anh Phung, Phillipe Melanson, Alex Lukashvesky, Thom Gill, Brodie West, Karen Ng, & Ted Crosby.
Luka Kuplowsky also collaborates with his friend Thom Gill to organize Holy Oak Family Singers, an electric community tribute group of 50+ rotating musicians that include members of Bernice, US Girls, Bahamas and songwriters including Eliza Niemi, Dorothea Paas, Ben Gunning, Alex Lukashevsky, Alanna Stuart, Charlotte Cornfield, Jane Inc., Justin Orok, & more.
Luka Kuplowsky also collaborates with his friend Thom Gill to organize Holy Oak Family Singers, an electric community tribute group of 50+ rotating musicians that include members of Bernice, US Girls, Bahamas and songwriters including Eliza Niemi, Dorothea Paas, Ben Gunning, Alex Lukashevsky, Alanna Stuart, Charlotte Cornfield, Jane Inc., Justin Orok, & more.