VOCALISE
VOCALISE
Lise Vachon
LISE
Lise Vachon is a virtuoso singer. It is not so much that her technique is impeccable—although it is. It is rather that her virtuosity unfolds so seamlessly that you might be deceived into thinking that her talent is only natural and not the fruit of hard work as well.
I remember attending one of her presentations with Vito Ricci in Montréal on March 15, 2019. The silence that Lise so gently imposed upon the public was eerie, magical, confounding, and unlike anything I have ever experienced. The mesmerizing quality of her voice went beyond the words of social justice, racial equality and freedom that she sang. It also went beyond the feelings that she conveyed when, words absent, her voice would evoke percussive and wind instruments. Though these elements no doubt contributed to the general enchantment of the crowd, it was, I believe, Lise’s ability to live within and through her voice which seduced the public guiding it into such contemplative silence. Up to that moment, I had admired Lise for her work as a singer-songwriter—she is a great composer—and for her keen intellect—she is an avid reader who, in addition, holds a Master’s degree. I had also admired her for a lifetime of respectful cross-cultural engagements that have led her to travel throughout Latin America and Africa (I am still in awe when I re-read her mid-1970s correspondence with president and world-renowned Senegalese poet Léopold Sédar Senghor as she tried to have her band perform in Senegal). Up to that moment, I had also thought that Lise and I had met months before: the day that we sat down in her and Vito’s house in Queens, NYC, to have a conversation around her decades-long commitment to music. But listening to Lise sing that evening in her native country, Québec, along dozens of spellbound spectators, made me realize that it is in her voice where these multiple experiences come together in order to make Lise audible, and that it was only then and there that Lise and I had actually met.
~Mario Cancel-Bigay,
Ph. D. candidate in Ethnomusicology, Columbia University,
singer-songwriter, and Puerto Rican cuatro player
Lise Vachon
LISE
Lise Vachon est une chanteuse virtuose. Ce n'est pas tant que sa technique soit impeccable, quoiqu'elle le soit. C'est plutôt que sa virtuosité se révèle si transparente que l'on pourrait être porté à croire que c'est un talent bien naturel et non pas aussi le fruit d'un travail continu.
Je me souviens avoir assisté à une prestation avec Vito Ricci à Montréal, le 15 mars 2019. Le silence que Lise imposa gentiment était surréel, magique, bouleversant et je n'avais jamais vécu une telle expérience. Sa voix hypnotique a dépassé les mots de justice sociale, d'égalité raciale et de liberté qu'elle a chantés. Cela s'est également manifesté lorsque, en l'absence de mots, sa voix a aussi pu dépasser les sentiments évoqués, elle devenait un instrument de percussion ou un instrument à vent. Quoique ces éléments aient sans doute contribué à l'enchantement général, c'était je crois, l'habileté de Lise à vivre à l'intérieur et au travers de sa voix qui a séduit le public le guidant vers un tel silence contemplatif. Jusqu'à ce point, j'avais admiré Lise pour son travail d'auteur-compositeur, son intelligence vive- elle est aussi une lectrice avide titulaire d'une maîtrise en musique. Je l'admirais aussi pour son respectueux engagement interculturel qui l'ont amenée à voyager en Amérique latine et en Afrique de l'ouest ( je suis encore impressionné quand je relis sa correspondance du milieu des années 70 avec le Président et poète sénégalais, Léopold Sédar Senghor, alors qu'elle cherchait à donner des concerts réunissant des musiciens africains et ses propres musiciens ). Jusque là, je croyais avoir rencontré Lise quelques mois plus tô t chez elle dans la maison de Queens, NYC, le jour où nous nous étions assis pour parler de ses nombreuses années d'investissement en musique. Mais écoutant Lise chanter ce soir là dans son pays, dans son Québec, aux cô tés de douzaines de spectateurs fascinés, j'ai réalisé que ses multiples expériences prennent vie dans sa voix et ainsi elle se livre. Ce n'est qu'à ce moment que je l'ai vraiment rencontrée.
~Mario Cancel-Bigay,
Candidat au Ph.D.en ethnomusicologie, Columbia University,
Auteur-compositeur, et cuatrista portoricain.
Performance Dates
| Date | Venue | Location | Tickets/Information | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 30th 2024 | Cafe Oto | London, England | Address: 18–22 Ashwin Street Dalston,London | |
| February 4th 2024 | Q-o2 Art Center, Saint Jean, Molenbeek | Brussels, Belgium | Address: 34,, Quai des Charbonnages 30, 1080 Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, Belgium | |
| February 10th 2024 | Arkaoda | Berlin, Germany | Address: 16-18 Karl-Marx-Platz, 12043 Berlin, Germany | |
| February 17th 2024 | Lecture /Meeting at Fiasco | Porto, Portugal | Address: Avenida Rodrigues de Freitas 133 at 6pm | |
| February 18th 2024 | Concert at Babel | Porto, Portugal | Address: 1 Rua dos Caldeireiro Porto, Portugal | |
| January 06, 2020 | Public Records-Ambient Cafe | Brooklyn, NY | Free Admission | |
| February 1st, 2020 8PM | ISSUE Project Room | 22 Boerum Place, Brooklyn, NY | Get Tickets | |
| September 10, 2021 | Holo | Brooklyn, NY | Art organization, Ridgewood, Queens. Cool space for musicians and artists to perform. | |
| November 22, 2022 | Colbo | Lower East Side | A Manhattan lower east side fine clothing store created and owned by an ex- Public Record DJ who books some special events. . | |
| April 16, 2023 | Computer Chaos | Brooklyn, NY | An evolving Brooklyn arts collective of sound engineers, artists, and community organizers, bookers. |
News
The Lot Radio monthly Sunday morning program VITO RICCI and LISE VACHON
This month we received a word from a gentleman in Toronto, Canada mentioning how wonderful and inspiring it was to have his generation represented at the Lot Radio. He was asking of other platforms where he could hear us. We are certainly happy to reach different generations: the silent one, the baby boomers, the millennials, the x, the z and alpha once a month. It's fun!
A wine bar has been named after us: Lise & Vito.
A lovely bar under the scrutiny and wonderful skills of Brittany Myrick in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Owned and managed by Greenpoint local and sommelier Brittany Myrick along with her partners–all of which are Roberta’s alums–the new wine bar, dubbed Lise & Vito, pays homage to Myrick’s “very favorite regulars” Lise Vachon and Vito Ricci, according to Greenpointers
FUNNELED SMOKE: VITO RICCI WITH LISE VACHON / PONTIAC STREATOR & ULLA STRAUS
Funneled Smoke is a multimedia art and curatorial project which attempts to create a cross-convergence between varied audiences, promote diversity, and integrate experimental electronic music, visual art, and rave culture. Founded by Yiyang Cao and George de Moura in 2018, Funneled Smoke has since presented work from both established and under-represented artists in underground spaces across Brooklyn and recently contributed live video installations for Interzone Festival and Unsound (NYC). For this event they will be installing an immersive 3-channel rear projection rig with live video and large scale paintings.
Vito Ricci is a composer from the 1980’s downtown New York scene whose work was revived in 2015 with a retrospective double LP on the Belgian label Music From Memory. Vito has been composing work for decades working in genres that include punk, modern classical, jazz, and ambient electronic and has created scores for theatre and modern dance productions. Some of his collaborations have included work with Rashied Ali, Peter Zummo, Byard Lancaster, Blue Gene Tyranny, and the Flux Quartet. He will perform alongside Lise Vachon, singer-songwriter born and raised in Montreal. She spent years in New Orleans singing jazz and contemporary music. A resident of New York City for many years, she has been performing with Vito Ricci. Vocalise is her latest recording, produced by Ricci. The two perform an electronic meditation on “the world we are leaving our children.”.
