A beautiful recording that uses electronics, overdubs, lyrics and wordless vocals to create a wonderous setting for these lovely songs, and context in which Elina Duni and Rob Luft are masters of their craft.
ECM 2866 / 574 4332
Elina Duni (voice, percussion); Rob Luft (guitars, electronics)
Recorded June 2025
With each new recording for ECM Elina Duni brings something new to the table. Her repertoire is far reaching and the musical collaborations carefully chosen. Each new project enhances the vocalist’s unique approach to music making, yet with her fellow musicians the results are always greater than the sum of their parts.
This has certainly been the case with her partnership with guitarist Rob Luft, and if the two quartet albums Lost Ships and A Time To Remember seemed to reach to a peak close to perfection this exquisitely intimate duo recording raises the bar once again.
This is a fully collaborative project, and if the guitar perfectly accompanies the vocals, then the same applies in reverse. Duni and Luft collaborate on such a level of intimacy that it comes across in the music whether performing original music or a traditional song from Kosovo.
The album opens with two familiar compositions from Irving Berlin and Ornette Coleman, with the former being given a sparse yet intoxicating reading of his ‘Reaching for the Moon’ while Coleman’s ‘Lonely Woman’ with lyrics by Margo Guryan are impeccable and fresh performances that the duo breathes new life into.
For sheer beauty of melody, voice and the sensitivity of Luft’s guitar playing I return frequently to ‘Zambaku i Prizrenit’ by Ahil Koci and two pieces that segue into each other in ‘Yumeji’s Theme’by Japanese composer Shigeru Umebayashi and ‘Sleep Safe and Warm’ by Poland’s Krzysztof Komeda.
The mood and texture are varied by Luft’s deft and subtle use of electronics and Duni’s hand drum as heard on the traditional ‘Ani More Nurse’ and Mahsa Vahdat’s ‘Leili Lullaby’. Further soundscapes are explored on the original piece by Luft and Duni ‘Foolish Flame’ in which Luft switches to acoustic guitar that is bathed in a delicate electronic backwash perfectly complimenting Duni’s voice and the song’s lyrics.
A beautiful recording that uses electronics, overdubs, lyrics and wordless vocals to create a wonderous setting for these lovely songs, and context in which Elina Duni and Rob Luft are masters of their craft.
