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.

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.