BEVERLY GLENN-COPELAND

Laughter In Summer TRANSGRESSIVE

Songs of praise to love and community.

By Jason Anderson

Unique creative force: Beverly (left) and Elizabeth Glenn-Copeland

8/10

WADE MUIR

TO begin his second studio album since becoming one of contemporary music’s most cherished rediscoveries, Beverly Glenn-Copeland utters a count of “1, 2, 3… 1, 2, 3”. It’s a seemingly simple moment that’s rich with layers of meaning. Glenn-Copeland’s placid voice exudes the same qualities of grace and patience that came in handy back when the Philadelphia-born artist was best known as a performer and composer of music for children’s television in his adopted home of Canada in the 1970s and ’80s. As something a musician may recite to launch a group into an unfamiliar tune, it’s also fitting because most of the songs on Laughter In Summer were recorded in single takes. Moreover, the album’s final song – “Let Us Dance (Movement Two)” – documents the very first time it was ever performed with the choir gathered for the session in Montreal.

Yet there’s something more profound about the act of counting here, too. It’s easy to imagine how it figures into Glenn-Copeland’s Buddhist practice, as a tried-and-true tactic for recentering and resituating the self in the here and now. On a heavier-hearted tip, it can be heard as a means for Glenn-Copeland to train his focus, marshal his energies, and hopefully sidestep some of the neurocognitive challenges the 82-year-old composer has faced since being diagnosed with a form of dementia in 2023.

SLEEVE NOTES

1 Let Us Dance (Movement One)

2 Ever New

3 Laughter In Summer

4 Children’s Anthem

5 Harbour

6 Middle Island Lament

7 Shenandoah 8 Prince Caspian’s Dream

9 Let Us Dance (Movement Two)

Produced by: Howard Bilerman Co-produced by: Beverly Glenn-Copeland, Elizabeth Glenn- Copeland and Alex Samaras Recorded at: Hotel2Tango, Montreal Personnel: Beverly Glenn-Copeland (vocals), Elizabeth Glenn-Copeland (vocals), Alex Samaras (vocals, piano), Naomi McCarroll-Butler (clarinet, whistles), Helena Deland, Camille Deléan, Eugénie Jobin, Robin Love, Naomi McCarroll-Butler, Mara Nesrallah, Frédérique Roy, Alanna Stuart, Adèle Trottier- Rivard (choir)