Searching for a place where all music meets

Līva Dumpe on her travels, inspirations, music, and longings for home

Continuing the tradition of catching those Latvians who are living abroad, I have invited for a chat a very special lady — a wonderful singer, Līva Dumpe, who came to her homeland for a short time to play some concerts. For the last several years, Līva has been living in Amsterdam, where she earned her bachelor’s degree with a fascinating concert. I remember this moment clearly — she has been streaming her concert exam from Amsterdam’s «Blue Note» club, and our entire jazz department has been watching it on their mobile phones, maybe even half of the RDKS school, because we, Latvians, tent to follow the lives of our colleagues that decided to study or work abroad. Not because they have more interesting things going on but rather because we are worried for them; we want their artistic plans to come to fruition. And every time they say they’re going back home to play, we come to the concerts, hoping to learn something new and get inspired. The same thing now — I know that Līva’s musical life blossoms; she tours actively, composes, and, of course, everything that she creates turns out wonderful because her Latvian background merges with the experience gained abroad and thus creates something unique.

I managed to catch up with Līva at the very beginning of her Latvian tour, on August 18. The place, as usual, remains the same — «M/Darbnīca». Her next stops were Valmiera, Rēzekne and Liepāja. After that, she would go back to Amsterdam. On this tour, she was joined by Ketija Ringa-Karahona, Massimo Imperatore, Omer Govren, Ilia Rayskin, and a special guest — Kristīne Cīrule. I have no doubt that this concert tour is going to be successful, but our conversation didn’t really go there; instead, we talked about her life, how her musical journey began, what inspires her, and other exciting things.

So, you came come and brought some friends with you! What are you going to play on your tour?

My music!

Is it the same program that you graduated from Amsterdam’s Academy with? I know you had quite a performance with some deep ideas.

More or less. That was during covid times, and we couldn’t have any listeners present, so we played only for an online audience. In fact, we had quite an extensive audience! Part of what we are going to play during this tour is from that concert, but now a year has passed, we have some new tunes to add.

You are also going to record today’s concert! I’ve seen some equipment, what is this about?

It was an idea of «Jersika Records», they are preparing some compilation for «M/Darbnīca», they record half of every concert that happens here, and then they are going to choose the best tunes for an album.

Sounds exciting! So that has nothing to do with your album. But are you planning on recording one yourself?

I guess at some point. I’ll have to get to that. But that will be after we’re done with this tour, and the program will be more settled. We don’t have a set date yet, but maybe we’ll get to that in late autumn or winter… I have to record an album because, in truth, I have no recordings to show. I have some songs or sketches, but that’s it. I think I’m ready now.

You know, if I’m being completely honest, I know almost nothing about you. I know that you graduated from Riga Dome Choir School, that you left for Amsterdam, and that your final recital had some tunes that were quite feministic! [laughs]

You know, I’m going to play the piano on this tour, not only sing! And the piano came way before I started singing. I was a classical pianist first, and only then I decided to sing jazz. Then Amsterdam came, and I continued with the jazz vocals, but I don’t sing traditional jazz. I write my own music, and use my piano skills, today I will play the piano in at least half of the concert.

And the feminism thing — it was only one tune! [laugs] I did a collaboration with the students from a motion theater where I wrote the music and sand, but they followed the music and attempted to complement it with the help of the movements and other elements. So we worked together. The topic of this collaboration was «Mad Voices» — angry voices that spoke of the times when women feel restricted in expressing their opinions, that they are being raised in a way that suggests that when they don’t like something, the best thing to do is to stay quiet. It was the first and the main line. So when we did the research for this project and tried to find ways to develop it, we stumbled upon a singer named Eartha Kitt. She’s not just a singer, but she’s a star of showbiz. There was this interview with her where she was already 80 years old or something, and the interviewer asked her about relationships and love; she spoke so honestly, unrestricted, with no filters… This interview inspired me so much that I translated her text and intonations, how she spoke, and I used it as a melody. The tune is named «Compromise»; we are going to play this tune today as well.

And how did you decide to switch from piano to vocals?

I have wanted to be a singer for a long time; I had this conviction that I was going to become a singer since I was little. But my parents insisted that singing can be learned later, that I have to start with something more serious…

Because singing is easy!

Yes, they said that I could learn to sing after I learn to play the piano. And then, I had to consider what to do when I graduated from music school. One option was to stay in Jelgava and continue studying classical piano; another was to go to Riga. Actually, the songs I chose to sing before I started studying jazz already had some hints of the direction I was going to take; it wasn’t just regular pop music. That’s why I thought that I might like it in RDKS.

And did you continue studying the piano while learning jazz vocals in RDKS?

We had a compulsory piano with Dāvis Bindemanis; I also studied one year with Marika Sharipo and then a year with Romāns Vendiņš. We also had a piano class in Amsterdam, but it was more about the harmonies instead of performing or improvising.

And when have you decided to start doing both?

The first song that I ever played on the piano, without singing, though, was a Latvian folk song, «Kas tā tāda griezes galva», and I had no idea that it also had lyrics. But when I found out that it had lyrics, I decided to try and do both. It was a rendition of this tune by Romualds Kalsons, and the arrangement was made in a very expressionistic style; it was the first tune I worked on and arranged.

Do you feel that when you try to do both things at the same time, playing the piano and singing, one might be lacking in, I don’t know, a sense of confidence or something? When your hands are occupied with playing, you can’t use them to communicate with other musicians, you know? You’re glued to the piano chair, the hands are glued to the keys, your mouth to the microphone, and you can’t do anything else apart from playing… I enjoy listening to such artists as Diana Krall, for example, bet she doesn’t play the piano when she sings her improvs. Then there’s that dilemma — doesn’t the quality of the music suffer when you have to stop doing one thing to do the other? Or is it a matter of balance or preparation?

Hm, yes, well… in the tunes where I play the piano, there’s this element that keeps everything together, something constant, and then the others «dance» around it, and at those moments, it works. Also, in the compositions that we have, I have planned out the moments when there’s freedom, and I can deviate from the chosen pattern, but there are also the tunes where it’s necessary for things to stay exactly as they are and never to change. And it also concerns other parts as well, for example, there are tunes when I play the harmonies on the synth, and I do it together with backvocals and flute — these are the only constants that are in a loop, but other instruments are constantly changing what they play. Something like that…

So it seems like you have found a way to do what you like without it hindering the music. To not be like Diana Krall! [laughs] Although I don’t want to smear her name, I actually love what she does very much!

And I have been to her solo concert! I believe it was the first time she did a solo concert because usually, we see her in a trio. But there was something wrong; maybe her musicians got sick or something. In truth, it was very beautiful!

So tell me, why and how did you choose Amsterdam?

RDKS and Academy of music had the same vocal teacher, Inga Bērziņa, I have spent four years with her, and she said that four more years with the same teacher wouldn’t be very productive. She advised me to try something else, to seek new inspirations. I felt like it was only logical to try studying abroad. In fact, I hadn’t spent a minute contemplating staying in Latvia. At first, I went to the USA because I figured it to be the right place to see where jazz came from. The problem was that I didn’t get the full scholarship. So then Europe — it’s a place where different music meets, not only free jazz or tradition. I’ve heard different impressions about the school in Amsterdam, they said that the school itself was very traditional, but outside the school, the environment is full of different genres, from pop to free jazz. So Amsterdam became the only place I went to enroll, and I got in; that made me very happy.

That’s curious because you are literally the only person whom I heard such things about the school in Amsterdam. I have been to «Keep An Eye» workshops myself as a participant, it was the first year when they allowed the vocalists to come, and I looked around at the students and the teachers and my impression was the opposite — that the tradition is set aside and everyone is so high on arts…

Interesting, but maybe it also depends on the department and certain teachers. The teachers that teach there right now are pretty traditional. And when you go exploring the music in town, you can find all kinds of crazy things! Amsterdam has this feature — if you’re different, then that’s normal; it’s ok to be a freak. Also, there are people who enjoy music from other cultures, and the moment they hear some «new» languages, they get very involved. People appreciate all the differences.

Did you get to sing something in Latvian as well?

Yes! People say that Latvian language is very beautiful, they love it!

We have a very musical language, indeed!

Exactly!

Do you miss home?

Sometimes. This year I got to visit more, once every couple of months. But if I’m away from home for more than five months, then yes, I feel the need to home back and get my dose of homeland…