Collaboration has always been at the very core of Monte Espina’s activities. Since forming in 2016, the North Texas-based electroacoustic free improvisation duo of Ernesto Montiel and Miguel Espinel have collaborated with countless local and touring musicians both in live performance and at their weekly “training” sessions.
Given their shared interests in exploratory composition and improvisation, and mutual ties to the music program at the University of North Texas, Louise Fristensky has become the duo’s most frequent collaborator. Fristensky’s multi-instrumental approach that “seeks out waves of timbral matching and clouds of contrast” has been an ideal fit for expanding Monte Espina’s sinuous sound environments into exciting new dimensions.
It was through a serendipitous, concert-filled weekend trip to Austin, Texas in 2017 that connected Liz Tonne into the Monte Espina orbit. While it was Diamanda Galás’s powerful voice that brought Montiel and his partner to Austin, it was Tonne’s vocal performance with Chris Cogburn, Mike Bullock, and Linda Aubrey at a gallery space that left a lasting impression. “I’d never heard of her before and her vocal work left me astonished,” writes Montiel. “I later learned that she played an active role in the early 2000s Boston improvised scene and The BCS.” Within just a few months, Tonne and Monte Espina would perform together on a few occasions in the Dallas area, while Monte Espina was also frequently performing with Fristensky separately during this time period. Fast forward a year and this four-person line-up would join together for the first time and would go on to play just a handful of shows together.
In May of 2019, prior to Tonne’s move back to Massachusetts after living in Dallas for several years, the four decided to go on a three-date Texas tour, and they also booked a recording session at Infinite Ohm studios where Monte Espina’s debut album, y culebra, was recorded at. pueblo glórtha - a title drawn from mixed language wordplay that loosely translates to “sound town” or “sound people” - is the result of that fruitful recording session. It captures these four sympathetic collaborators in the thick of improvisational sonic world-building. Tonne’s non-conventional vocalizations zoom in and out of focus, often meshing with Fristensky’s objects and breath. When paired with the creaking, mechanical instrumentation of Montiel and Espinel, they create a uniquely atmospheric full group sound that displays a wide dynamic range.
While this particular four-piece collaboration may have been short-lived, pueblo glórtha captures that seemingly rare ‘lightning in a bottle’ improv session that is truly transportive, a recording that begs to be revisited often.
credits
released November 30, 2021
Liz Tonne - voice
Louise Fristensky - voice, kazoo, flute, bells, objects
Ernesto Montiel - objects on guitar
Miguel Espinel - percussion, cymbals, objects, autoharp, live processing
Recorded by Justin Lemons at Infinite Ohm Studio in Denton, Texas on May 19, 2019
Mastered by Andrew Weathers
Paintings by Bernardo Bermudez
Images edited by Ginger Berry and Juan Pablo Garza
(from the book BAB by Anna Maria Ferris, Caracas, 1998)
Layout by Matt Irwin and Ernesto Montiel
Round Bale Recordings is a record label associated with the Free Form Freakout radio show & podcast series (aka FFFoxy Podcast) that focuses on small edition releases across various physical formats.
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