A Time To Remember is a continuation of the special synergy that inhabited Elina Duni's acclaimed
Lost Ships and finds her regrouping with that album's quartet of guitarist Rob Luft, Matthieu Michel on flugelhorn and Fred Thomas on percussion and piano.
As the title suggests, the notion of 'time' 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.
Commenting on the group's last effort, Jazzwise said that the sum of Duni and Luft's work together seems greater than their individual achievements, where concept and conceptualisation have combined to produce a classic. A Time To Remember should confirm that proposition and further expands on the qualities explored previously.
Elina Duni: voice
Rob Luft: guitar
Fred Thomas: piano, drums
Matthieu Michel: flugelhorn
Press:
A trio impeccably attuned to her ability to convey intensity with the most delicate yet diamond-bright sounds, cannily improvising in ways that stretch the songs without disrupting Duni's surefooted control over their shape...'Send in the Clowns' manifests this fine vocalist's remarkable capacity for expressing strength and resolve by the most reticent of means. - **** The Guardian
A quietly powerful album...It would be unfair to pick out any particular tracks for special praise. They are all marvellous. But mention has to be made of 'Send In The Clowns'. It is as affecting as the version of Charles Azvanour's Hier Encore which closed Lost Ships and which, Duni and Luft relate in the aforementioned interview, when they use it as an encore in Francophone countries, invariably has some people leaving the auditorium weeping. Be prepared. - **** All About Jazz
A musically successful album is not only one where the musicians perform well and the songs are well-chosen, but where there is a consistent overall feel without being one-dimensional...The album was recorded at La Buissonne Studios in Southern France to which much of its beautiful sound and mixing can be credited. - London Jazz News
Duni, an artist with a rare sensitivity to the connecting points between pure vocal and instrumental sound, textual narratives in different languages, and the cinematic qualities in good lyrics, has followed up 2020's Lost Ships with an equally spirited and subtle collection...As always with Elina Duni, this is a thoughtful, beautifully articulated piece of jazzy poetry. - Jazzwise
Elina Duni and Rob Luft's song writing partnership has also strengthened into a formidable team that produces songs that reach deep into the soul and mind. Not just highly recommended, but unmissable. - Jazz Views
