Ingrid Sertso was a pioneering avant-jazz singer who worked with Karl Berger and Don Cherry. She is known for her ability to blend jazz, African and other worldbeat influences into an enticing, captivating sound. Although Sertso was not well-known until Dance with It, 1994, she had spent more than 20 years perfecting her craft. She lived in Europe in the late 1960s. She led her own trios and performed with Don Cherry, Steve Lacy and Karl Berger. In addition, she was a music teacher at many European institutions. She became a permanent resident in the United States in 1972 and released her first album, “We Are You”, on Calig Records. She taught for a few years, and performed in North America, Europe, and North America with such artists as Cherry, Ed Blackwell and Lee Konitz. Kalaparush was her first album on Trio Records Japan in 1974. In 1975, Peace Church Concerts on India Navigation/CMC Records followed. Sertso was appointed a faculty member of the Naropa Institute, Boulder, CO in 1975. She then moved to Calgary, Canada’s Banff Centre of Fine Arts. After two residencies at Banff, she moved to Woodstock, NY’s Creative Music Studio, where she was made co-director. She began singing with Berger, David Inzenon and in the Art of Improvisation while she was working at the Creative Music Studio. She toured Europe in 1979 as a solo artist, with the support of the Woodstock Workshop Orchestra. In 1979, she also released an album through MPS Records. During the 1980s Sertso was still a co-director of the Creative Music Studio. She continued to record and perform with a wide range of musicians, including Don Cherry, Karl Berger, Paulo Moura and Nana Vasconcelos. She performed at the Kool Festival with the Music Universe Orchestra in New York in 1984 and released a duet album, Changing the Time with Berger on Horo Records, Italy. She also traveled Europe twice and toured West Africa with Olatunji, Aiyb Derng. The latter half of 1990 saw Sertso’s professional career take off. She gave a series concerts and workshops in Rio de Janeiro and regularly tours the U.S. festival and club circuit. She also toured Europe twice, and sang solo vocals in Berger’s orchestral dance, The Bird. She was also a co-leader of Rhythm Changes which released Jazzdance on ITM Records. She recorded and performed with many artists over the five years including Pauline Oliveros and Frank Luther, Leroy Jenkins and Leroy Jenkins. Sertso’s 1990 version of “Until the Rain Comes”, which was featured on Don Cherry’s Multi Kulti album, saw her return to the mainstream jazz scene. She began work on a new album shortly afterward but was distracted by her collaboration with Karl Berger, guitarist Paul Koji Shigihara, and other musicians. The trio incorporated original compositions and Sertso’s poetry, improvisations, as well as traditional tune interpretations. Sertso regularly gave poetry readings at Woodstock’s Tinker Street Cafe and New York’s Knitting Factory. She also played regularly in clubs along the Northeast coast. Her 1994 album Dance with It was a positive success. Allmusic
