Drawing on an unconventional career path, Korean singer Youn Sun Nah is a unique voice in contemporary Jazz. Born in Seoul in 1969, she débuted her music career as a classical singer and only started delving into the Jazz repertoire when she moved to France in her mid-twenties. The singer released her début album “Reflet” […]
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Dhafer Youssef: Whirling birds ceremony
Tunisian composer, oud player and singer Dhafer Youssef is a wandering musician constantly migrating from one country to another within Europe and North Africa, having lived and worked in Tunisia, France, Austria, Norway or Turkey over the years. Following up on the superb Abu Nawas Rhapsody (2010), Dhafer Youssef’s new album Birds Requiem reunites the […]
Trio Mediaeval: Gjendines bådnlåt
Trio Mediaeval is a vocal ensemble formed in 1997 by Anna Maria Friman (Sweden), Linn Andrea Fuglseth and Torunn Østrem Ossum (both from Norway) specialising in the sacred and mediaeval polyphonic repertoire from Italy, France and England. They have also worked extensively with contemporary composers and musicians such as Gavin Bryars, Trygve Seim or Arve Henriksen. […]
Arve Henriksen: Opening image
Norwegian trumpet player Arve Henriksen (b. 1968) is a fascinating and multi-faceted musician who initially studied formal jazz. But since the 1990s, he has moved away from traditional formations to explore different approaches to sound and improvisation. A founding member of avant-garde trio Supersilent, the trumpet player has been thriving on non-rehearsed “free improvised” and […]
Max Richter: Shadow journal
The Blue Notebooks “Shadow journal” was originally released in The Blue Notebooks (2004), the second solo album by German born British composer Max Richter. While classically trained, the musician is also influenced by Rock and Electronic music or by modern minimalists such as Philip Glass, Steve Reich or Arvo Pärt. Max Richter scores for classical formations […]
Dhafer Youssef: Les ondes orientales
Time Out provides an excellent introduction to Dhafer Youssef: “…the Tunisian vocalist and oud virtuoso juxtaposes the ancient, mystical, hypnotic music of Islamic Sufism with the textures of electric jazz.” While Dhafer Youssef’s electronic side is more evident in older recordings like Divine Shadows (2006) or Digital Prophecy (2003), the personnel he has assembled for the […]
