Elina Duni 'A Time To Remember'

I was delighted to interview Elina Duni for the latest episode of Harmonious World: below, you can read my album review of A Time To Remember.

A Time To Remember is Elina Duni’s 11th album and it’s a stunning combination of original and standard tracks that show off her voice beautifully,

Elina’s band reunites the winning combination of Rob Loft (guitar), Matthieu Michel (flugelhorn) and Fred Thomas (percussion and piano), with genuine collaboration. In our discussion for Harmonious World, Elina and I discussed the musical interplay between the instruments that is really extraordinary. At times, the lines intermesh and the players trade ideas and music motifs that is subliminal.

The whole album represents original tunes composed by Elina, sometimes in collaboration and sometimes inspired by the landscape around her and nature in all its glory - wherever she finds herself. There is a global heme that runs throughout, alongside the whole notion of time. Lockdown presented Elina with the challenges we all faced and some of those come through in the lyrics.

Jazz standards and folk tunes from different countries all feature, including Albanian and Kosovan traditional songs and the Sondheim classic Send In The Clowns.

the title suggests, the notion of ‘time’ – in a fleeting sense – 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. 

Guitarist and co-composer Rob Loft has featured on Harmonious World podcasts and his role is clear here. Elina says: “Rob has a sun-drenched, solar side to his playing and writing, while I tend to be drawn to darker musical colours. Combining these two contrasting elements can be a great challenge, but the result is equally rewarding. Finding the middle ground is a way for us to become sincere and authentic in our collective.

“I think this album is a reflection of our shared passion for musical storytelling, going beyond genre and language. After several years on the road touring together, the slightly unconventional lineup now sits comfortably, and inhabits its own, singular world of sound. It feels like the most cinematic album I’ve made to date, too, with every song suggesting a different film. It draws inspiration from our diverse, multilingual repertoire of traditional folksong.”

A Time To Remember  is available now on ECM Records and Elina Duni’s episode on Harmonious World is live.