Engine: Robin Gentien, Alejandro Tomás Rodriguez, Pierre Lauth-Karson

Last spring, in a back room of Albuquerque’s Dialogue Brewing on seven successive Wednesday evenings, the trio Engine—Alejandro Tomás Rodriguez (acoustic guitar, vocals), Robin Gentien (electric guitar, vocals, cascas), and Pierre Lauth-Karson (harmonica, vocals, shakers)—presented a series of seven Encuentros Íntimos, or Intimate Encounters (reviewed here). The first of these events, essentially house concerts, attracted an audience of about 15 people, but word got out, and the last six were standing room only. This new release, available here, captures the final performance with remarkable fidelity and offers a valuable facsimile of the experience shared.

Engine
Encuentros Íntimos, Unplugged in Albuquerque (indie)
A review
The 14 tracks on Encuentros Íntimos, Unplugged in Albuquerque (available here), include old songs from Afro-Latin traditions arranged and updated by Engine, original songs, poetry, dance, and storytelling—all of it riding on layers of irresistible rhythm. Given the dramatic training of Rodriguez and Gentien at the Workcenter of Jerzy Grotowski and Thomas Richards in Italy, it’s no surprise that the performances are very carefully rehearsed, with extraordinary attention paid to the smallest detail. That is exactly what frees the performers to engage the audience directly and ride the waves of energy wherever they may travel. An electric energy, stoked by a strong sense of ceremony, flowed between performers and audience on those seven evenings. It is not easy to capture that energy in an audio recording, but Encuentros Íntimos manages to communicate a sense of the electric charge in the air. (Special thanks to Drake Hardin at Tornasol Music who captured under very challenging technical circumstances, mixed, and mastered the recording. While we’re at it, thanks, too, to Neal Copperman of AMP Concerts, who organized these encounters, and to Sam and Daniel at Dialogue.)

The trio incorporates a wide range of sonic textures to expand their musical palette beyond what you might expect from a trio, and the recording does a good job of separating the individual instruments on the sound stage. The exceptional electric guitar of Gentien, the precise and inspired harmonica of Lauth-Karson, and the driving rhythm of Rodriguez’s acoustic guitar are clearly defined, and in some moments, you can hear them more clearly than you could in the room on that evening.

Picking out the highlights of the evening’s work is near impossible: 14 tracks, 14 highlights. Nonetheless, the trio of “Poem of What If,” “What If,” and “Remember Poem” has to be mentioned for its fantastical storytelling that irradiates your imagination, and for the tender invitation to explore earliest memories. Each week, at the conclusion of these three, no one dared breathe for several seconds for fear of breaking the spell. Just a moment of that exquisite, quivering silence is captured on the album.

The trio’s “Falling from the Sky” incorporates the muscular poetry of Ebony Isis Booth, who delivers her words with a passionate relish that draws the approval of the room.

The pairing of “Carmela: dame la llave,” from bomba and plena icon Angel Luis Torruellas, and “La negra chola,” a son palenque from the Afro-Columbian Sexteto Tabalá, lifted the entire room into an ecstatic communion week after week. On this evening, the trio was ably assisted by the exceptional Caro Acuña (percussion) and Maritri Garrett (vocals).

If you were there, you will find that the album reawakens all the splendid feelings of that night, and if you weren’t there, you now have the opportunity to share in the ecstatic.

Lagniappe
Alejandro Tomás Rodriguez is currently in Albuquerque, where he is teaching at UNM for the 2018–19 semesters. He is offering a different sort of encounter that looks to be a unique and exciting opportunity. Appended below is the information he is sending out about Coming Alive through Song.

Coming Alive Through Song is a cycle of singing sessions open to all that will take place during October and November in Albuquerque. In these encounters, we will dive into a fluid interaction of song, movement and rhythms rooted in Afro-Latin America traditions, as well as spirituals and shouts* from the Deep South of the United States.

Part of the day will be dedicated to physical work: exercises of synchronization and reaction contained within a structure that unfolds through different rhythms and games.

The sessions will be led by Alejandro Tomás Rodriguez (Engine) in collaboration with visiting international artists who have worked a long time in this field of the performing arts: Lloyd Bricken (USA), Catalina del Barrio (Argentina), among others.

Coming Alive through Song will take place on the weekends of October 20–21, 27–28, and November 24–25. Participants can apply for 1, 2, or 3 weekends. Special discounts are available for those who wish to participate in more than one weekend.

The fee for each weekend is $120.

Duration: 2 days of 4 hours each.

Time and location: To be confirmed soon.

Who can apply: We invite actors, singers, dancers, musicians, students, and any curious individuals interested in singing, playing, or performing. You can be of any age and with or without professional experience.

How to apply: Interested individuals should send a short letter of interest to theenginesongs@gmail.com (with subject “Coming Alive”).

Video of previous workshops: go here.

* The ring shout is the oldest known African-American performance tradition surviving on the North American continent. Performed for the purpose of religious worship, this fusion of dance, song, and percussion survives today in the Bolton Community of McIntosh County, Georgia.

© 2018 Mel Minter