From the Earth

By Ava Fleisher   

In our September/October 2022 issue, we featured jazz vocalist, composer, host of “Real Jazz” on SiriusXM and Katonah resident Andromeda Turre. On July 26, she will release “From the Earth,” a 12-track contemporary jazz album comprised of four concertos, each focusing on a part of nature experiencing the environmental impacts of climate change: earth, sky, ice and sea.

Icould literally feel the sadness of the glacier melting,” Andromeda Turre describes. “I found the aurora borealis and could feel the energy like electricity in my body, like I was plugged into a socket.” 

Turre describes herself as “sensitive,” so it was only natural for her to experience these visceral physical and emotional reactions when she visited Iceland in December 2022. After witnessing lava erupting from an active volcano and large slabs of ice violently transitioning to a liquid state, Turre returned home and began to compose. 

But since she had no connection to Icelandic culture, Turre focused on North America. 

“When I decided to write the album about things that are happening here, I wanted to focus on climate change, because it’s really important to me and weighs heavily on my mind, especially as a mom. I 

started researching and found that the communities most affected by climate change right now are historically marginalized communities.”

Hence, “From the Earth” explores the intersection of climate change with the effects of past and present discriminatory systems, like redlining and colonization. Turre’s goal is to elevate the voices of people from marginalized communities who are disproportionately affected by climate change. For impact, she includes recordings of her conversations with those she interviewed, along with the songs they inspired. 

“I wanted people to hear directly from them and not just hear me talking about them.”

Turre conducted four interviews, each of which “felt like a gift” with: Rhonda Hiscock (a Canadian-based environmental chemist), Margaret Gordon (founder of an environmental justice non-profit in California),  Dr. Jifunza Wright-Carter (founder of a sustainability and community resilience non-profit in Illinois) and Gladys M. Canals, Ph.D. (a Puerto Rico-based educator). 

Hiscock provided Turre with data and facts that helped her gain a scientific perspective about climate change. Gordon, founder of the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project, shared her experiences from the past 60 years as an environmental activist focusing on pollution and the geosphere. 

“Ms. Gordon, rightfully and understandably, had a lot of anger and rage, because people in her community are very sick and dying or have health issues. That rage inspired the song ‘Finger on the Trigger’” which, Turre says, was written to raise awareness about those who profit from harming the environment and therefore marginalized groups, as well as those who have prioritized money over protecting the environment and humanity.

Turre says her conversation with Wright-Carter, who founded Black Oaks Center, was “the most spiritually moving” one. “She had a deep spiritual connection with the Earth and even told me, ‘I need to give you the tempo of the Earth because it moves at a specific pace.’ And that’s why [the song featuring her conversation] is so slow, because it moves at that pace.”

And Canals, an educator who incorporates environmental activism into her teaching, shared details about the frequent disasters Puerto Ricans endure. 

“She told me so many heroic stories of camaraderie and rising to the occasion that occur each time there’s an environmental disaster in Puerto Rico, and I was inspired by that sense of community.” 

The album was produced by Grammy-winning northern Westchester resident Scott Jacoby, and it features a variety of well-known jazz musicians, including vibraphonist Chien Chien Lu, drummer Gene Lake Jr., saxophonist Chelsea Baratz, bassist Richie Goods, harpist Riza Printup, multitalented musician Harold E. Smith and Turre’s father, jazz trombonist and “Saturday Night Live Band” member Steve Turre, who also plays an unusual instrument during one song.

“When there’s a section about the sea and your dad plays the seashells, you ask him to play. He’s been playing for longer than I’ve been alive, so it’s a sound I grew up with.” 

Turre’s father, who is considered a “pioneer” in turning conch shells into instruments, plays five different shells on the album and, at one point, plays two at once. He developed this talent while working with Rahasaan Roland Kirk, who played just one shell.

“From the Earth” also includes ELEW, more formally Eric Lewis, a jazz pianist; Turre says she wrote the last song on the album with him in mind before even knowing if he would contribute. 

“I could have spent my entire lifetime trying to write his piano solo, and I couldn’t have written what he played.”

What’s more is that ELEW’s solo was completely improvised and recorded in one take. And it features a choir with several members from Northern Westchester, including nine-year-old Lulu Fontan, high school student Catherine Assad and Turre’s mom, the Grammy Award-winning composer and cellist, Akua Dixon. 

The album is divided into four sections, called concertos: From the Earth, From the Sky, From the Ice and From the Sea. She was inspired by Antonio Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons,” a suite of four violin concertos which move through each season. Similarly, Turre’s album moves through four different parts of nature.

After more than a year working on the album, Turre wrapped up “From the Earth” in January, and that same month, she premiered the album live in Bedford Hills. She invited local environmental organizations to “table” at the concert, an element she plans to continue on tour. 

“I wanted to present this in Bedford for the first time because this is such an environmentally friendly community, so I knew there would be an audience for this type of work. A lot of people told me they were moved to tears, and they said feeling the musical vibrations through the instruments was powerful for them. They also loved that I have so many women in the band.”

To fund the album, Turre credits “difficult to obtain” grants from Jazz Road, Doris Duke Foundation, Mellon Foundation, the New York State Council on the Arts and ArtsWestchester, as well as her own funds. 

Turre points out she is an independent artist, not signed with a record label, giving her more autonomy over the direction of her music, which is especially important because the purpose of “From the Earth” is so nuanced and aimed at building community.

However, being an independent artist has its downsides, too. Turre hopes to soon go on a national tour, but not having the perks of being with a label that has deals with certain venues has slowed down that process. Still, Turre has high hopes for her new album and wants to spread its message as far as she can. 

“I want to get this on big stages and in front of as many eyes and ears as I can. Not even the sky’s the limit.”

Turre says that by amplifying voices often excluded from vital discussions on climate change and environmental justice, “From the Earth” is more than just an album; it’s an initiative—one she hopes will serve as a narrative of her generation’s struggle with the pressing issues of the climate crisis and systemic racism.

Andromeda Turre’s album debut party will be held at the Katonah Museum of Art on July 27 at 5:30 p.m. You can purchase tickets here.

This article was published in the July/August 2024 edition of Connect to Northern Westchester.