Elina Duni, Rob Luft, Fred Thomas, Matthieu Michel – A Time to Remember (2023) [Official Digital Download 24bit/88,2kHz]

Elina Duni, Rob Luft, Fred Thomas, Matthieu Michel – A Time to Remember (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/88,2 kHz | Time – 53:31 minutes | 911 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © ECM

A Time To Remember is a continuation of the special synergy that inhabited Elina Duni’s acclaimed Lost Ships and finds her regrouping with that album’s quartet of guitarist Rob Luft, Matthieu Michel on flugelhorn and Fred Thomas on percussion and piano. As the title suggests, the notion of ‘time’ pulls through the programme like a theme, connecting music from different parts of the world – traditionals, popular songs and original compositions – in performances of deep lyricism but also fleet-footed folklore. The repertory spans Albanian and Kosovan traditionals, American songs like the Broadway classic “I’ll Be Seeing You” and Stephen Sondheim’s musical ballad “Send In The Clowns” as well as originals by Rob and Elina. Commenting on the group’s last effort, Jazzwise said that “the sum of Duni and Luft’s work together seems greater than their individual achievements, where concept and conceptualisation have combined to produce a classic.” A Time To Remember should confirm that proposition and further expands on the qualities explored previously.

What is immediately striking when listening to this new record (her fifth on the ECM label, and the second at the head of this quartet after they already released the very fine Lost Ships in 2020) by Elina Duni, the Swiss singer of Albanian origin, is the deep aesthetic coherence of a collective discourse brought to maturity. Immersed in the precious setting of this extraordinary organic arrangement, featuring Rob Luft on guitar, Matthieu Michel on flugelhorn, and Fred Thomas on percussion and piano, Elina Duni’s voice is deep, sensual, and constantly expressive, yet lacking the slightest trace of affected sentimental mannerisms. Like a hyper-sensitive instrument, we are treated to a repertoire as eclectic as it is masterfully balanced, which pulls at the very essence of music and emotion. Progressing with ease from traditional Albanian and Kosovar tunes to a carefully selected selection of American songs (the Broadway standard I’ll Be Seeing You, Stephen Sondheim’s ballad Send In The Clowns, and the magnificent Charlie Haden theme, First Song ), while simultaneously using her natural talent to remain resolutely committed to the composition of original pieces that she co-authored with Rob Luft, Elina passes effortlessly from one language to another, allowing herself to be carried by the poetry of sophisticated and dreamlike arrangements that ride the edge of folk, jazz, and pop. A real work of art. – Stéphane Ollivier

Tracklist:
1-1. Elina Duni – Évasion (04:19)
1-2. Elina Duni – Hape Derën (04:39)
1-3. Elina Duni – A Time to Remember (05:10)
1-4. Elina Duni – Whispers of Water (05:52)
1-5. Elina Duni – E Vogël (04:10)
1-6. Elina Duni – Dawn (02:11)
1-7. Elina Duni – First Song (05:25)
1-8. Elina Duni – Mora Testinë (03:57)
1-9. Elina Duni – Send in the Clowns (04:29)
1-10. Elina Duni – Mallëngjimi (04:21)
1-11. Elina Duni – Sunderland (05:14)
1-12. Elina Duni – I’ll Be Seeing You (03:38)

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