Label

Orchard of Pomegranates is a Montreal-based, international community-focused label emphasizing improvisation and voice. Rooted in Jazz and Deep Listening practices, OoP supports a broad spectrum of artists in a multidisciplinary fashion. The label is an extension of OoP Community that gathers online via Patreon and at in-person events. OoP Community was founded by Vocalist / Composer Ayelet Rose Gottlieb in 2019, with the OoP Label following in 2022.

Catharine Cary - AIR CAKE and other summery occupations (2024)

As Catharine Cary herself aptly puts it “AIR CAKE is an invitation to see the world upside down.” Indeed this recording —

Cary’s frst—makes what seems like an absurd proposition. On it, she takes her original children’s stories, themselves the whimsical product of spontaneity, and combines them with improvised music. As she brings these peculiar tales to life, in her characteristic animated delivery, the words bounce and flutter beside and between the contributions of her two musical compatriots Eric Lewis (Cornet, Bass Clarinet and Toys) and Ivan Bamford (Drums and Toys). It all comes together seamlessly.

The project started as a means to connect with her young nephew during the pandemic. She improvised stories into her phone’s voice memo app and sent them to him. Naturally he found them quite amusing. Eventually Cary started to share them with some of her friends. Ayelet Rose Gottlieb, Montréal vocalist, composer, and the curator of the Orchard of Pomegranates label (and founder of the community of the same name), was one of these select few. Gottlieb had just started her label, which serves as a vehicle for improvisation-driven vocal music, and as Cary’s vocal teacher, she had witnessed the musicality and charisma of Cary’s delivery first-hand.

Cornettist and Bass Clarinetist Eric Lewis, known for his work in Murray St. Band, Ratchet Orchestra as well as in McGill University’s Philosophy Department, and drummer Ivan Bamford of Eyevin Trio, Gadji-Gadjo, and Togetherness! are both fixtures in Montréal’s energetic improvised music coterie, and beyond. Together they provide agile, playful, thoughtful and above all else, thoroughly listenable accompaniment to the cast of characters depicted by Cary. It’s a recording that will offer new forms of delight for seasoned fans of creative music, while also captivating listeners of all ages that are susceptible to wonder.

Ruth Saphir - Accolades of Time (2024)

On this, her fifth album, Ruth Saphir ventures into profound
internal conversations with her ancestors, with an imagined
child, with broken loves. We are invited to journey inward with
her, stepping through the Accolades of Time, in a beautifully
crafted book of songs. Saphir navigates the deep oceans of
time, in a journey of self-exploration that is both personal and
universal. In these compositions she harmonizes the tangible
and the imagined, as the dream, the nightmare and the
awakened reality all resonate.
The album opens with Ancestral Shadows, inviting us to
embrace the shadows we carry throughout our lives, followed
by the lyrical question: “Where Do Dreams Go?”— dreams
being the safe space to escape the grief and sorrows of waking
life. Saphir, the daughter of Holocaust survivors, gives voice to
her shadows and dreams with grace, humour and sensuality.
The album closes with the title track, Accolades of Time, asking
“Could we step onto a stage / Into the spotlight, into the
limelight / Through the Accolades of Time?” In this album,
Saphir does just that, putting her heart vulnerably in the
spotlight, inviting us to hear our own stories within hers.
When Saphir writes “If you really want the rhythm, find it in
your body,” she knows what she is talking about. For over 25
years, she’s has been a music therapist and sound healer,
working with adults and youths to address their physical,
emotional and spiritual challenges. This extensive experience
informs her holistic approach to music. “Composing and
improvising sustain and nurture my creative soul” she says. Her
voice adds a heart-felt, full bodied dimension to every song
and her flute solos are like the fluttering of a bird’s wing,
soaring high.

Ruiqi Wang - Subduing the Silence (2023)

Ruiqi Wang
Born and raised in Hangzhou, China, Ruiqi Wang 王睿琪 is a vocalist, composer and improviser in jazz and experimental music. Based in Tio’tia:ke/Montreal, Canada and Bern, Switzerland., sShe aims to achieve the greatest freedom and authenticity through her creativity. Her genre-defying aesthetics combine influences from jazz, contemporary Euro-classical music and traditional Chinese music. Over the last several years she has graced the stages of well known Canadian venues including Upstairs Jazz Club, Ursa, MAI/SON MTL, Le Basement and Richard Bradshaw Amphitheatre.
A graduate of McGill University’s Jazz Performance program, Ruiqi has studied privately with Ranee Lee, Camille Thurman, Ayelet Rose Gottlieb, and John Hollenbeck; She is expanding her artistic expression by incorporating movement, through practicing Open Source Forms with Susanna Hood, and attending Meredith Monk voice and movement workshops. In 2023, Ruiqi received the Salsinger Tani Gold Medal at the time of her graduation. Currently starting her studies for a Masters in Jazz Composition at the Bern Academy of the Arts in Switzerland, under instructions of Django Bates, Andreas Schaerer and Ralph Alessi, she intends to continue performing her original music across Europe, North America and China.

Saku Mantere - Upon First Impression (2022)

Upon First Impression is Finnish born, Montreal based
vocalist Saku Mantere’s debut album. The music was
composed and recorded in both Finland and Canada
with a cast of some of the finest musicians from both
countries. A masterful work about heartbreak and a life
divided between two places, it’s an album that needed
time for the fermentation process to mature. Through
this difficult, split reality, Mantere surrounded himself
with dedicated collaborators that held his vision and
worked together as a tight-knit family to create a unified,
inspired work. The path to making this album has been
curvy, laced with unexpected turns and hidden roadsides.
In a world that idolizes speed and immediate
satisfaction, Mantere moves at his own pace with care
and attention to detail. This album benefits greatly from
repeated listening and a deep-dive into the lyrical and
musical riches it holds.
Mantere’s heart – perfectly imperfect – pulses through
every note, every word and every sound on this album.
He has managed to transform (as many great artists have
done before him) a broken love into a work of art,
carefully crafted, well thought-out, vibrating with
authenticity and vulnerability.