Episode cover
Ingrid Laubrock: Purposing the Air with Music and Voices
June 12, 2025 · 49 min

Today, the Spotlight shines On saxophonist and composer Ingrid Laubrock.

Ingrid's just released Purposing The Air, a double album that sets 60 brief poems by Erica Hunt to music through four different vocal-instrumental duos. It's an ambitious project that transforms Hunt's emotionally sharp koans into what Ingrid calls "a library of moods”—each piece capturing a different feeling, from the everyday to the searching.

The project began during Ingrid’s master's studies, when she met Hunt through a friend and immediately connected with the poet's work. What started as writing for one duo became something much larger: a collection where poems float through musical space, each tailored for specific performers, such as Fay Victor and Mariel Roberts, or Theo Bleckmann and Ben Monder.

(The musical excerpts heard in the interview are from Ingrid Laubrock’s album Purposing the Air)

Dig Deeper

Visit Ingrid Laubrock at ingridlaubrock.com and follow her on BlueskyFacebook and YouTubePurchase Purposing the Air from Pyroclastic RecordsBandcamp, or Qobuz and listen on your streaming platform of choiceDig into this episode's complete show notes at spotlightonpodcast.com

• Did you enjoy this episode? Please share it with a friend! You can also rate Spotlight On ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and leave a review on Apple Podcasts.

• Subscribe! Be the first to check out each new episode of Spotlight On in your podcast app of choice.

• Looking for more? Visit spotlightonpodcast.com for bonus content, web-only interviews + features, and the Spotlight On email newsletter. You can also follow us on BlueskyMastodonYouTube, and LinkedIn.

• Be sure to bookmark our new online magazine, The Tonearm! → thetonearm.com

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.