The half-Finnish Sinikka Langeland, the kantele player, singer and composer from Finnskogen, south-eastern Norway's Forest of the Finns, sets 'The Half-Finished Heaven' - and other verse by Swedish poet Tomas Transtr�mer - 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 - here expressing the mystery and joy of everyday encounters with animals in the forest.
Sinnika's highly original and self-contained oeuvre is informed, in changing degree, by folk traditions of Norway and Finland, as well as classical and contemporary music and improvisation from jazz and other sources. Her kanteles - 10-string, 15-string, and 39-string table-harps - seem to carry archaic echoes older than folk tradition, and each of her gifted bandmates brings his own range of colours to the music.
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 Bj�rnstad. Saxophonist Trygve Seim and drummer Markku Ounaskari were both members of Sinnika's quintet heard on 'Starflowers' and 'The Land That Is Not' and play together in contexts including the Ku�ra Trio. Out of this network of musical relationships Sinikka has created a characterful quartet with a strong identity of its own.
Personnel: Sinikka Langeland (kantele, vocals), Lars Anders Tomter (viola), Trygve Seim (tenor saxophone), Markku Ounaskari (drums, percussion)
