For Kitka, completing another circle around the sun marks more than the passage of time.
The all-women Bay Area vocal ensemble’s far-flung repertoire flows out of the seasonal cycle, accompanying and commenting on centuries-old celebrations and rituals marking rebirth and death, sowing and reaping.
Kitka’s new album “Kolo” embraces the cosmic rotation, while providing a map for the 10-member ensemble’s popular Wintersongs concert series, which includes concerts in Santa Cruz (Dec. 13), Menlo Park (Dec. 14), Oakland (Dec. 18-20), and San Francisco (Dec. 21).
Uncertain about whether to embark on a new recording project, with all the effort and expenses an album requires, “Kelly and I had an epiphany,” said Kikta’s longtime artistic director Shira Cion on a recent video call with Kelly Atkins and Janet Kutulas, Wintersongs music co-directors and “Kolo” producers.
“We’ve had two beautiful creation songs from Estonia and Ukraine in our repertoire,” Cion said. “We realized they could serve as book ends, opening and closing ‘Kolo.’ The idea is to take people on this journey.”
The Kitka experience has always been transporting. Whether performing newly commissioned works or arranging traditional material, often gathered directly from elders in rural villages, the women deliver the extravagant harmonies and odd-metered rhythms with the arresting vocal techniques required to authentically present songs from a welter of cultures.
This year’s Wintersongs program features a dramatic cycle of songs gathered from across Ukraine and the Republic of Georgia, as well as from Balkan, Baltic, Mediterranean and Slavic lands.
With several milestones approaching, including the ensemble’s 45th season and 25th edition of Wintersongs, the time seemed ripe to tackle an ambitious new undertaking. “Kolo,” which will be officially released next year but available for sale on CD and vinyl at the Wintersongs events, pivots away from the usual Kitka formula of recording “20-odd songs of three minutes toward nine-minute songs that are more trancy,” Kutulas said.
In embracing evocative post-production touches, the group brought the outside world into Kitka’s rarified sonic realms, adding sounds and sonic textures from an array of sources. The experimentation in immersive audio was partly made possible by mixing the album in Dolby Atmos, the first time Kitka has used the system.
“There’s a song about bees and Kelly found a recording of bees from Ukraine online, and then we recorded bees in El Cerrito too which became part of the track,” said Kutulas, a 37-year Kitka member. “We’re found different ways to make the music cinematic and spatial.”
“There’s a long Corsican song about the ocean and waves and we added the sounds of water,” added Atkins, who joined the ensemble in 2010. “It felt like the songs knew what they needed.”
Adopting new audio technologies is part of Kitka’s ongoing work to keep the music fresh, while at the same time maintaining their roots in ancient vocal traditions.
“In order to survive this long as a group we have to modernize, but if you change so much there are risks too,” Kutulas said. “We’re always struggling with how to present new pieces and of late do we have a right to be even singing these songs? Our mentors are so encouraging and understand deeply the need to stretch ourselves.”
In creating “Kolo,” Kitka chose a theme that resonated. A root word found across across Balkan, Baltic and Slavic cultures, “kolo” means circle or wheel and often refers to a spiraling folk dance. The album’s original title was “Cycles,” and was part of a larger project that was funded by a National Endowment for the Arts grant.
Like so many other arts organizations, Kitka’s federal funding was withdrawn last May, but with four studio sessions already booked they were able to complete the album, while a related tour was cancelled. The Wintersongs series is supported in part by a grant from the East Bay Community Foundation’s Oakland Arts Pooled Fund.
Experimenting in the studio adds some new shades to Kikta’s creative palette, but it’s the range of life experiences that keep the group vital. “It’s so multigenerational,” Atkins said. “There’s almost a 50-year span.”
The latest singer to join is 22-year-old Talia Young-Skeen, who recently graduated from UC Berkeley. Auditions used to be fairly casual, but over the years the selection process has become increasingly rigorous.
“We always have our ears out for amazing, unique, versatile voices,” Cion said. “It’s so exciting and humbling when someone like Talia or Stacey Barnett joins the group. People do tend to stick around for a while.”
Contact Andrew Gilbert at jazzscribe@aol.com.
KITKA WINTERSONGS
When & where: 7:30 p.m. Dec. 13 at Peace United Church in Santa Cruz; 4 p.m. Dec. 14 at St. Bede’s Episcopal Church in Menlo Park; 8 p.m. Dec. 18-20 at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Oakland; 4 p.m. Dec. 21 at Old First Presbyterian Church in San Francisco; $27.50-$55; kitka.org
