Chicago bassist-vocalist Katie Ernst is standing atop a hill in rustic Egg Harbor, Wis., where she’s teaching jazz at Birch Creek Music Performance Center.
She’s hoping her altitude will help her get a better cell connection out in the wild, and, indeed, her voice comes through as vividly as her music always does.
Ernst’s enthusiasm — which even on an average day rises high — owes to what’s happening with Twin Talk, the collective ensemble she runs with reedist Dustin Laurenzi and drummer Andrew Green. On July 31 at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Twin Talk will offer listeners a chance to hear music from its forthcoming third album, “Weaver,” which was recorded in a manner that neither this trio — nor most edgy jazz bands — experiences very often.
“This is what Twin Talk sounds like with five days of studio time,” says Ernst, who with her colleagues recorded at the Wisconsin studio of Bon Iver singer-songwriter Justin Vernon.
“This was not your typical jazz recording time frame. We talked about it as a group, trying to figure out how to make the most of a total luxury of time. What we decided on was we wanted to use these five days like a rock band might use their luxurious amount of time in a studio.
“So the question became: What does Twin Talk sound like in the freedom of a studio environment, where we don’t have to be limited to what is happening in the acoustic trio setting?”
The musicians came up with a strategy: spend the first two days making “what would have been a classic Twin Talk record,” explains Ernst. Then spend the next three days playing with what they had. That meant adding reed lines, weaving in drums and cymbals and bells and what-not.
“It’s still just the three of us, and we’re all playing our instruments live,” says Ernst. “But it’s a little more lush than our other records.”
Listeners can stream the album’s first single, “The Sky Never Ends,” on the new PEOPLE platform, which can be linked from Twin Talk’s website (www.twintalkmusic.com). The track points to an ensemble that, as ever, values intimacy of expression, transparency of texture and an ongoing quest for deeply personal sounds (the full album will be released later this year).
These musicians listen keenly to one another, and with a sensitivity that only comes from familiarity and trust. That Twin Talk has been performing for six years says a great deal about the belief these artists have in this project.
As for the name, Twin Talk refers not to the personnel of the trio but to the nature of its internal communications.
As Ernst put it to me in 2016, “We wanted a name that reflects what we’re about. So after a long brainstorming period and lots of Google searches and looking up words that we thought helped describe who we are, I was casually referencing how twins talk to each other,” added Ernst, whose younger sisters are identical twins.
“And they have this way of communicating with each other that is at a very high level, and it’s a personal language. And as I was explaining this … we thought: That may be what we’re about. We’re working on developing this communal, personal language, where things are communicated with more of a glance than a direct command.”
The MCA performance, on the museum’s Tuesdays on the Terrace series, will include new sounds, and more.
“We’ll be playing some music from the album and some music from our second record,” says Ernst. “And in our typical band fashion, we have already started on new material.
“So you can hear what’s coming up, what’s happened and what’s going to happen.”
When: 5:30 p.m. July 31
Where: Museum of Contemporary Art, 220 E. Chicago Ave.
Tickets: Free; 312-397-4010 or www.mcachicago.org
Leonard Bernstein’s “Mass”
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In one of the most greatly anticipated events of the summer, the Ravinia Festival will present a staged performance of Leonard Bernstein’s rarely performed “Mass.” Marin Alsop, curator of Ravinia’s ambitious observance of this year’s Bernstein centennial, will conduct the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Children’s Choir, Vocality and Highland Park High School Marching Band, with baritone Paulo Szot as the Celebrant. 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Ravinia Festival’s pavilion, near Lake-Cook and Green Bay roads, Highland Park; $90-$125 tickets; $10 lawn; 847-266-5100 or www.ravinia.org.
Grant Park Orchestra
Guest conductor David Danzmayr will conduct the Grant Park Orchestra in Ralph Vaughan Williams’ Norfolk Rhapsody No. 2, Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 3 (“Scottish”) and Andrew Norman’s “Switch,” with percussionist Colin Currie. 6:30 p.m. Friday and 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park, Randolph Street and Michigan Avenue; various ticket prices in reserved seating area; other seating free; 312-742-7647 or www.gpmf.org.
Howard Reich is a Tribune critic.
Twitter @howardreich