Gabriel Kahane | Roomful of Teeth
Roomful of Teeth and I have been orbiting each other for the better part of a decade, but it wasn’t until this winter that they asked if I would write a new work for them. Just a few weeks ago, I had the good fortune to spend several days with the group at MASS MoCA in North Adams during their annual retreat. It was revelatory. I spent each morning writing a sketch of two to three minutes, and then we’d gather for several hours to explore how it might be refined, revised, expanded, and etched. We sang. We played. They yodeled. I conducted. I asked them to make tiny mouse sounds. They obliged. I was reminded through this work what a joy it is to make music in a room, to tailor each part to a human spirit as much to an instrument. Teeth are all extraordinary collaborators, individually and collectively. Many of them are composers and arrangers themselves, and are not shy about offering constructive suggestions toward shaping a phrase or a gesture. This, for a composer, is an incredible gift.
After our first session, I asked if each of the singers would send me a voice memo containing any extended or unusual techniques that they particularly enjoy, as well as anything else they’d like to sing. In addition to Mexican yodeling, overtone singing, primordial growls, and various other techniques, I heard snippets of Pinegrove, Steve Winwood, The Beatles, Irish folk music, and more. What became clear was that these are all singers who love to sing, well, songs. And yet, it seemed, that aspect of their artistry was often kept at arm’s length from the more “new music-y” work for which Teeth is known. And so, after our second session, we agreed that I would write something akin to a “Roomful of Teeth Songbook,” marrying the language of my songs to these particular voices, the techniques they’ve developed over more than a dozen years, as well as the larger narrative canvas suggested by a group of eight singers. Having spent some time in a room together, I’m now prepared to do some writing on my own, before meeting with them again, ideally for an extended workshop leading up to the world premiere.
—Gabriel Kahane, August 2022