The Saffron Sisters:
The three voices of the The Saffron Sisters – Kristina Godfrey, Mary Ruston and Frances Caldwell – blend in three-part acapella harmonies, and frequent accompaniment by Mary on the keyboard and Kristina’s percussion.
Their folk-inspired arrangements range across covers of gospel, vintage, rock, world music and bluegrass, and some of Kristina’s original songs. The Saffron’s harmonies and love of singing together can be infectious, inspiring glowing audience response.
The Saffron Sisters’ last major outing at the Christchurch Folk Music Club was in April last year when they supported visiting Canadian singer-songwriter James Gray. The concert on Sunday [20th Sept] will be their longest gig yet, and will include some of their audience ‘top hits’ such as gospel song Down to the River to Pray and Leonard Cohen’s Who by Fire. They’ve also been working on lots of new arrangements, putting their unique harmonic spin on songs including The Who’s Pinball Wizard and Sting’s Fragile.
Inspiration is never in short supply and, while songs come from different genres, common themes crop up in the lyrics: There are songs of empowerment, peace, deep human experience, and the balm of nature and spirituality.
Practices are a weekly highlight, with compulsory cups of tea and catch ups followed by a tight schedule of suggestions and much musical trial and error. The group members first sang together as a trio as part of a Women in Harmony choir concert in 2018. It was meant to be a one-off performance but there was something about the combination of voices that kicked off a desire by all three to sing together again. With everybody’s busy lives – including a seven-month change of city for belated earthquake damage house repairs – it wasn’t until 2020 that the Saffron Sisters finally began to meet regularly.
The trio consists of:
Mary Ruston – she’s been playing the piano for as long as she can remember. Performing as a singer was a later development – first in the Cecilian Singers, then singing alto in the CBS Choir and discovering the vocal polyphony of Bach and Byrd. A lifelong enjoyment of jazz and blues inspired her to form the jazz choir Jazzamatazz in 2013. Mary has also directed Women in Harmony, and currently plays in The Muddy Mammas Blues Band and The Jazzabelles, her instrumental jazz trio.
Kristina Godfrey – her lifelong journey with singing began around the family fire accompanied by her father’s bush bass. She is a local singer-songwriter who released her CD ‘Good Enough for Love’ in October 2017. Her original songs emerged as she reflected deeper into her own life experiences and discovered each song had a liberating effect. An avid percussionist with a love of Celtic grooves, Kristina often keeps the Saffrons in time with an egg shaker, bodhran or djembe drum. She is a regular performer at the Christchurch Folk Club and over the years has performed in different folk duos, cafes, house concerts and music festivals in different parts of New Zealand. She currently loves singing jazz classics in Mary’s choir Jazzmatazz.
Frances Caldwell – Musical theatre was her first love and singing outlet, including poking affectionate fun at musical classics as part of Auckland musical comedy group Dip-Raved. The Manawatu Youth Choir gave her a taste for choral music and the joy of singing in harmony, an involvement that’s continued over the years with the latest choir being Mary’s Jazzmatazz. Other current music activity includes ‘threshold’ singing at the bedside of the terminally ill with members of Christchurch group Reflections. And most recently trying to blend into the crowd with The Cashmere Club’s ukulele group.
Support Act Information – The Jazzabelles
The Jazzabelles are a chamber music trio who play toe-tapping arrangements of jazz standards on piano, flute and cello. The talented trio consists of Mary Ruston (again!) on piano, Christchurch Recorder Ensemble player Genevieve Long on flute, and her sister Sarah Hickey on cello. Music arranged by the ever busy Mary includes jazzy versions of songs such as Fly me to the Moon and West Coast Blues, and features each instrument as a solo. When in chamber music mode, the group’s repertoire ranges across baroque trio sonatas and classical chamber music written by women composers.
