A highly sought after soprano and recent addition to The Choir of Trinity Wall Street, Shabnam Abedi found her space in jazz music through just living and growing up in America. The backbone of American music is what she always gravitated towards. ‘Whether it be the radio or my teacher handing us different arrangements of jazz standards in choir or going to the mall and being taken away by the sounds of big band every year during holiday season. I found a more solidified connection with jazz in high school when I fell in love with ?at ?ing Cole; it unlocked a deep part of my heart and spirit and I knew I wanted to find the sound of jazz through my voice and my instrument,’.
The interplay between culture has shaped Shabnam’s life in music. She continues to have the experience of being a first-generation South Asian America which means so many things. She was born and raised in the Western world while her home life was tapped in to the Eastern world. Her life was constantly about learning multiple cultures simultaneously side by side. ‘My earliest memory with music goes back to when I was about three years old (it’s quite literally the only conscious memory I have from that age). A simple memory of just me and my dad singing together while he was doing the dishes one day. He is the one constantly singing Bengali songs around the house and talking about music non-stop. He’s the one who gave me the bug. Always speaking about what to listen to and pay attention to, about all the details and layers behind lyrics melody and rhythm, what to analyse and observe, how to emulate the things you can hear in music, etc.’
Shabnam’s first album with a Bengali name, Amar Bigon Ghore opened to fantastic reviews in South Asia. Thereafter, she was recognised by the ?ew ?ork Times for her solo in Trinity’s Handel’s Messiah this year, as well as a soloist in Considering Matthew Shepard production and sang at the ?ew ?ork premiere of Tyshawn Sorey’s ?ono?hro??ti? ?i?ht at the ?ark Avenue Armory.
Shabnam is one of the six women in Voces8 Foundation’s new treble ensemble Lyyra. She talks to us about how she made it and what more to look forward to below.
What is it about music that evokes emotion in you?
Everything about it. How the groove is set up, how the harmony presents itself which then gives the lyrics and melody life beyond the page.
How would you describe your music sensibility to someone who is new to your music?
The only thing that comes to mind is that it does not fit into any one particular box. It comes in and out of all the styles of music I’ve ever fallen in love with, including classical music, ??B, jazz, all forms of choral music and the big South Asian umbrella of music.
You’re a recent addition to the choir of Trinity Wall Street. What does that mean for you? How did you make it?
It means so much. It means that I get the opportunity and privilege to practice singing at one of the highest levels of choral ensemble music making, which to me, there are very few things in the music making realm that are more fulfilling than that.
Since soprano singers need a lot of control over their voice, how do you practice for it?
I make sure to touch my instrument every day at some point. Whether it be because of rehearsals/performances or because I sit down with things I need to practice and even if I’m not feeling up to practice or do much, even just singing a few lines to a song that I’m listening to or just sustaining one note on a hum while I breathe. Consistency is key - whether I tap into my instrument for hours at a time or for five minutes, I make sure to tap into it every single day like praying and breathing and if I fall off that train of consistency because I’m human, I do what it takes to get back on.
What’s your creative process?
My creative process is simple. It starts with an idea and I do whatever it takes to bring that idea into life. I don’t use any one particular method of composing or arranging; I use them all, in all of its permutations and directions. Sometimes I start with the lyrics then go to harmony, sometimes harmony then lyrics, sometimes just the groove. Sometimes I start with no arch in mind and it comes to me later, sometimes all I have is the arch and I fill in the blanks to make that arch happen. For me, there’s no right or wrong way to do anything; it’s about realising what’s in my heart and using all the tools that I’ve gathered over the years to trial and error until it comes to fruition. That’s really it.
What inspired your new music?
My new album is titled Love Shadows; a duo album with my pianist and brother in music, Joe Block. We just finished recording it a few months back and look forward to releasing it by the end of this summer. We are both musicians who connect to various styles of music and naturally approach art through different angles and I think the songs we chose and how we chose to do them reflect that and our understanding of what love is.
Words Hansika Lohani
Date 10.10.2024