About
Full length CD of Robin's new music
Poet, songwriter, Robin Gorn, is releasing her first commercial Album, SoftWing. This music is born out of Robin's vagabond travels and explorations into world music and afro-latin traditions. Wild, ripe and true with a heaping spoonful of saudade (a Brazilian word for happy, sad, passionate longing); these fifteen songs are worlds in a cinematic universe that move sinuously through roots and world music from RnB to Brazilian rhythms to Blue Grass. A formidable songwriter, her first commercial release brings an old school musical vibe that transports you to a time and place.
"In a polarized world, a song can be a rainbow bridge between darkness and light; opening doors we never thought existed" Robin Gorn.
photo : Jacques Dufresne
Going deeper to find the light.
Robin is now rooted in the vibrant arts melting pot of Montreal. She has shared her creative energy in collaborations with artists from home and around the world in music, dance, poetry, art, film and TV. In Bahia, Brazil, she performed with some of the most celebrated musicians of that region. She also performs in poetry festivals. Robin has a special connection to the experimental women's choir Choeur Maha, with whom she has collaborated for more than a decade.
photo : Masoud Raouf
THE ALBUM
Robin's songs go deep beneath the surface to embrace the joyous and painful inconsistencies that transform our lives. What is exquisite about this album is what is not there. This innovative production creates spaces for us to experience the music.
SoftWing features a wide cast of Robin's international music family who call Montreal home.
The album begins with the spirit journey of "Noah's Arms" and Robin's spoken word anthem,"Love Shakin' The Fences". "Til we try" is her nod to the Philadelphia Sweet Soul Sound. Also in the 70's style, her pop ballad "Who's Watching Over You" explores the unholy promises we make to survive. We hear live recorded sounds amidst the street protests of "Printemps Érable 2012", in Montreal. “Cheguei Lá” is a circle dance capoeira style while "New Rocksteady" celebrates renewal with an Afro-Caribbean-Doo-Wap. The marching band in "Walking to Bonfim" travels the world of danceable grooves and her bluegrass tune “Beaujelais” swings the revolution with mandolin and fiddle. There are cries of of a Grandmother's sorrow that are softened by Rain-sticks, chimes and Japanese Flute in "Tumbai" and the nearly naked solo Voice and Piano tune, "I'm not Performing. “I Will Follow You Down” invites you in a slow blues to surrender to life while an invocation, “Holy” chants by a fire on a windy night.
Robin's Rocksteady Reggae tribute to T.S Eliot will be available for download December 31, 2015 when the poem comes into public domain.
THE RECORDING
SoftWing is a patchwork of studio recordings and live sounds recorded over four years with breaks for fundraising. The Album was produced by Jay Atwill and Robin Gorn.
"In Jay Atwill, I was working with a musician/producer who could go deep into my songs. I finished producing the album on my own when Jay started recording and touring his own album, "Invocation". He brought an incredible musical palette that could accompany the diverse range of styles that I write in. We spent a long time envisioning and crafting the sonic landscapes where my songs would live. The musicians intuitively inhabited those spaces when they came to the sessions. The songs came alive as if they were people who could get up and walk out the door."
THE MUSICIANS
Robin Gorn - Vocals, Piano, Percussion
Jay Atwill - Guitars, Bass, Jews Harp, Vocals, Percussion, Programming
Thom Gossage - Drums and Percussion - Till We Try, Who's Watching Over You, Noah's Arms
Annabelle Chvostek - Mandolin, Fiddle, Vocals - Beaujelais
Rommel Ribeiro - Guitar, Cavaquinho - Said to My Soul
Roman Munoz - Electric Guitar - I Will Follow You Down
Drica Souza - Percussion - Love Shakin' the Fences
Paul Shrofel - Keyboards - Till We Try
Yan Morelli - Bernard - Percussion - Walking to Bonfim, Cheguei Lá
Thomas Morelli - Bernard - Percussion - Walking to Bonfim, Cheguei Lá
Yuki Isami - Shinobue Flute - Tumbai
Moïse Yawo Matey - African Drums - New Rocksteady
Juliet Lewis - Vocals - Said To My Soul
Pedro Diaz - Vocals - Walking to Bonfim, Holy
Gitanjali Jain - Vocals - Walking to Bonfim, Holy
Tribu-Terre Choir - Vocals and Clapping - Cheguei Lá
