Sinikka Langeland: "The blue tit's spring song" from the album "The half-finished heaven"

Sinikka Langeland vocals, kantele
Lars Anders Tomter viola
Trygve Seim tenor saxophone
Markku Ounaskari drums, percussion

Photography: Dag Alveng

The half-Finnish Sinikka sets “The half-finished heaven” - and other verse by Tomas Tranströmer - on her fourth album for ECM. “Despondency breaks off its course / Anguish breaks off its course / The vulture breaks off its flight. / The eager light streams out …” Such vivid images establish a tone for what is primarily an instrumental album this time, with a striking blend of sound-colours in music written by Langeland. Sinikka’s kanteles - 10-string, 15-string, and 39-string table-harps - seem to carry archaic echoes older than “folk” tradition. Lars Anders Tomter has been described by string-players’ magazine The Strad as “the giant of the Nordic viola”. One of Norway’s most distinguished classical soloists, he also has a history of collaborating with players of other idioms, and appeared on Sinikka’s “Maria’s Song” album (as well as on ECM discs with Terje Rypdal and Ketil Bjørnstad). Saxophonist Trygve Seim and drummer Markku Ounaskari were both members of Sinikka’s quintet heard on “Starflowers” and “The Land That Is Not” and play together in contexts including the Kuára Trio. Out of this network of musical relationships Sinikka has created a characterful quartet with a strong identity of its own.

Sinikka Langeland about her photographer:
"Photographer Dag Alveng is now almost a member of Sinikkas ensemble. It started with Manfred´s choice of the cover on "Marias Song" and then he made the photos of the musicians for the next CD "The Land That Is Not." There is something timeless and archaic in the photos that suit my music and for the project "The Half Finished Heaven" I asked him if it could be possible to make photos also from my landscapes in Finnskogen. We have developed this cooperation now also to be part of the concerts, both as art installations and video. At the release concert in Vossajazz, and at the concert in OSLO GRIEG FESTIVAL at THE NATIONAL GALLERY the art videos from him and Per Maning will be a part of the concert. Dag Alveng photographs are in the permanent collections of major museums in America and abroad, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York."

ECM 2377 Release: March 2015

ECM Player: http://player.ecmrecords.com/langeland-2377

http://ecmrecords.com/Catalogue/ECM/2377

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