Elina Duni (voice/acoustic
guitar/keyboard).
(Review by
Melanie Grundy/Photos courtesy of Ken Drew)
This
night of jazz-folk interweaving began with a solo set from acclaimed
Albanian-Swiss singer Elina Duni. Accompanying herself on guitar, she opened
with Meu Amor, a song made famous by
Queen of Fado, Amalia Rodriguez. Despite the Portuguese lyrics, the heartbreak
and longing conveyed by her intonation held the audience rapt from the first
syllable. Moving seamlessly into a more upbeat Albanian folk-song, which
contrary to its feel, expressed the longing of the migrant for home. Elina then
paused to explain the motivation for her solo project Partir - the fact that we are all bound to depart, becoming
potential exiles or immigrants in one way or another, separated from home,
family, love and even ourselves, longing to find our way back.
This
theme continued with the Italian song Amara
Terra Mia (My bitter land), then
moving from guitar to keyboard, Elina paired a bittersweet traditional Albanian
song of marriage, which she described as “another kind of exile” with Bareshë, (The Shepherdess). Her use of scat in both reflecting the
characteristic ornamental turns used in Balkan folk-singing. Pre-gig, Elina
explained the Rhodes accompaniment was not one she would normally use,
preferring the simpler tones of an acoustic piano, however, its’ timbre made an
unexpectedly appropriate partner to the traditional lyrics. Moving to a
completely different tone of longing, Elina returned to her guitar for Willow Weep for Me, a blues chosen for
its female authorship. This segued into the Hungarian Vaj si Kenka (You don’t need to) blending percussive guitar and
scatted vocal passages with that distinctly eastern feel. The set ended with
the mournful Swiss folk-song Schönster
Abestärn (My beautiful Evening Star).
Elina
presented songs that are both culturally specific and universal in the common
experience they document. The intimacy and vulnerability of her solo
performance was cathartic, leaving the listener with a sense of being cleansed
emotionally. The Jazz Café audience was left longing for more, as Elina made
her own swift departure to catch a train.
Trio FCT (Faye
MacCalman (reeds/voice); Tobias Illingworth (keyboard/voice); Callum Younger (snare/cymbal/bodhran).
Anything
Faye MacCalman touches is stamped with outstanding creative and technical
ability and this ensemble is no different. Trio FCT originally formed in
September 2015, when Younger began his Master’s research into the use of the
bodhran in an improvised setting. Tonight saw the group’s first performance
together in 2 years since Younger relocated to Glasgow. However, the obvious
rapport between the players was clear from the get-go, in the looks, gestures
and spoken signals indicating changes of tempo or movement between structure
and improvisation.
The
trio’s opener Every Soldier Comes Back
With a Bruise perfectly balances repetitive, Scottish folk-influenced
patterns with freer structured sections. Peanut
Butter opened with a thoughtful, almost oriental keyboard line, soft,
breathy tenor and light bodhran and cymbal touches; the reflective melody gathering
momentum, as MacCalman switched to clarinet, with a repeated phrase moving up
and down in thirds. At a spoken signal, the tempo picked up, the hypnotic
patterns then dissolving into a spacious melody.
Discus Hibiscus saw MacCalman and Illingworth vocalizing over a
repetitive rhythmic keyboard pattern, before MacCalman took up the tenor for a
mesmerizing passage of long soft tones alternating with superbly controlled
harmonics; the piece moved back into the sung melody, which faded into a
concluding dialogue between keys and bodhran. Rhodes Decision gave us a bubbling keyboard line, weaving in and
out of textural tenor, gradually building pace and dynamic, until it tumbled
over the waterfall into a gloriously free pool of keyboard flurries, tenor squeaks,
and cymbal scrapes. MacCalman then switched to clarinet and drew us into a new
melodic line inspired by the longing of a Scottish lament, with a more
traditional bodhran pulse and rhythmic piano, slowly loosening into something
altogether more spacious, light and airy.
This
is thoughtful, considered music, full of colour and texture, creating a
soundscape open to the listener’s interpretation; there are references to
Scottish folk-music, but these are never overstated. There are plans to record
an EP in the near future, and for more live performances, which will be highly
anticipated and are thoroughly recommended.
Melanie Grundy
More photos by Ken Drew.
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