For a concert to mark her 60th birthday last year, the Norwegian singer and kantele player Sinikka Langeland convened a band made up of starry ECM label mates, notably Trygve Seim on saxophone and Mathias Eick on trumpet. This configuration has led to her 12th solo album, ‘Wind and Sun’, its lyrics drawn from the poems of Langeland’s contemporary Jon Fosse. Originally known as a playwright, he has concentrated more on novels since converting to Catholicism, but his terse, elliptical poetry has been a constant, wrestling with the eternal even before that conversion. Fosse is from the rural west of Norway and Langeland from Finnskogen, the ‘forest of the Finns’ on the eastern border with Sweden, but they share common concerns: folk culture, the force of grace and the power of absences. […]The sweet unfolding folk melody of ‘When the Heart is a Moon’ segues from that lunar image into angels bearing messages from the dead. ‘The Love’, which brings together Fosse’s ‘Den Kjærleik’ and ‘Kvarandre’, expressions of tenderness a decade apart, has an inviting swing. ‘Wind Song’ begins with a Jew’s-harp ostinato from Langeland as the rhythmic bed for playful games from Eilertsen and Thomas Strønen on drums.
David Honigmann, Financial Times
On this album, Langeland is joined by a quartet of Norwegian jazz notables, all from the ECM stable, each one a bandleader in his own right. Trygve Seim (saxophone) has been a regular collaborator for years and Mathias Eick (trumpet), Mats Eilertsen (bass), and Thomas Strønen (drums) are all sympathetic players whose sensibilities are in perfect alignment with Langeland’s own. The other major contributor here is writer and poet Jon Fosse, whose serene verse makes up ‘Wind and Sun’’s lyrical content. The 12 songs included here are at turns pensive, playful, and affectionate with plenty of space to move around. Against the raindrop plucks of the kantele, the musicians hold languid conversations, whipping up small storms and settling back into glacial grooves
Timothy Monger, All Music
Langeland wird unterstützt von einem Quartett der Kammerjazzmeister, dem Trompeter Mathias Eick, dem Saxofonisten Trygve Seim, dem Bassisten Mats Eilertsen und dem Schlagzeuger Thomas Strønen, die die Tendenz zur großräumigen Klangtransparenz mit Folkwurzeln noch unterstreichen. Und so ist ’Wind And Sun’ ein Fest poetischer Melancholie.
Ralf Dombrowski, Audio /Stereoplay
Magical. That’s the first word that came to mind as I listened to Sinikka Langeland’s ‘Wind And Sun.’ […] on ‘Wind And Sun’ she turns turns to the contemporary Norwegian playwright and poet Jon Fosse, whose poetry resonates with Langeland’s fascination with natural mysticism. Although Langeland leans into mysticism, it isn’t a wispy sort of mysticism. Her vocal instrument is a powerful one, capable of holding its own with Seim and Eick on their brassy horns. On ‘Wind and Sun Langeland’ has created arrangements that illuminate Fosse’s poems through her stunning, often minimalist vocals and kantele, and her sensitive ensemble fleshes out those arrangements in amazing accord with her and one another. I first noted the way the arrangements match the topic in the third track ‘It Walks And Walks,’ a superb arrangement founded on a walking bass line from Eilertsen, over which Langeland’s vocals and the horns play with a melody that sometimes plods with the bass and sometimes stretches the meter. Color and texture come from Strønen’s sensitive drumming, and Langeland’s lightly plucked kantele that somehow sounds like a chiming steel guitar. Pensive, reverent and life-observant, the song rides a line between art song, folksong, and jazz improvization. It all beautifully matches the text, which addresses the linear and yet somehow cyclical nature of life […] ‘Wind and Sun’ is a deep listening experience.
Gary Whitehouse, Green Man Reviews
After the solo album ‘Wolf Rune’ for voice and kantele, Sinikka Langeland has again returned to a quintet setting to present her now unique and uniquely beautiful music. With her recordings over the last decade or so, Langeland has drawn inspiration from culture of Finnskogen, an area on Norway’s border with Sweden known as the ‘Forest of the Finns’ and with her latest album searches for new avenues of expression in the contemporary poetry of Jon Fosse. Langeland’s marriage of her compositions and the words of Fosse is brought to life by a quite exceptional band. Saxophonist Trygve Seim is no stranger to exploring more traditional music and poetry, and his full sounding soprano saxophone plays an important part as a storyteller alongside Langeland’s voice. Seim is also partnered by trumpeter Mathia Eick who is a perfect foil for the saxophonist. With his lean and lyrical phrasing, and clean and clear tone the two voices of trumpet and tenor blend superbly supporting Sinikka’s vocal on ‘It Walks And Walks’. Eick is also particularly fine on ‘When The Heart Is A Moon’, a lovely ballad that opens with Sinikka’s kantele and vocals before being joined by Eilertsen’s strong and warm bass line. […] The charm in Sinikka’s music has been the way the traditional and the modern sit side by side. In somehow capturing the essence of both, the kantele player and vocalist’s music has a timelessness that is emotionally engaging and often leaves the listener with a feeling of inner calm. This is a trait that she has continued with her new compositions and the development of her arrangements for jazz quintet and done so without sacrificing the links she has forged with the traditional music of the region. The music on ‘Wind And Sun’ therefore sounds as fresh and intoxicating as ever, while looking ahead for new ways to bring the ancient and traditional together with the new.
Nick Lea, Jazz Views
For this new recording, Langeland chooses to once more broaden her horizons of sound, with an all-Norwegian all-star constellation of players, all of them ECM recording artists and ensemble leaders in their own right and with complex interwoven histories going back many years. […] And so to summarise, these expert players know one another well, sharing an advanced improvisational understanding, individually and collectively elevating the atmospheres of the songs presented on this album. […] Whilst the setting of poems by Hans Børli, Edith Södergran, Olav Håkonson Hauge and Finnish Forest rune songs have formed the core of Langeland’s repertoire to date, ‘Wind and Sun’ sees her turn her attention to the contemporary poetry of Jon Fosse, who has described the process of writing as ‘an act of listening,’ and wrestles with questions of faith in his work in a way that resonates with Langeland’s fascination with natural mysticism. […] This connection between all involved in the making of this album is clear to hear. There appears to be a very distinct understanding that enables the musicians to express themselves whilst remaining within the soft, unspoken boundaries of the nature of the poetry and music itself. ‘Wind and Sun’ in its entirety feels this way, with moments of glistening beauty mixing intrinsically with a foreboding melancholy. Langeland’s voice carries passion and truth, crossing oceans as it takes flight. Softly spoken, or strong and terse, it is always crystalline in delivery. The supporting cast give the listener a sense of time and place, adding to the atmospheric nature of the songs with sensitivity and imagination. The delicate hues of colour and subtle textural interplay between the musicians is a delight, helping create a beautiful landscape of sound. And this is the landscape of Sinikka Langeland’s music, one where the listener can visualise for themselves the places and people that inspire her music.
Mike Gates, UK Vibe
Mit den zwölf bis zu neun Minuten langen Stücken – jedes für sich eine faszinierende Klanglandschaft – lässt sich einmal mehr tief in diese fremden und dank Langelands Schaffen doch so vertrauten, magischen Sphären eintauchen. Ihre Kompositionen liefern den genialen Soundtrack für diesen außergewöhnlichenTrip – mit ihrer klaren, ausdrucksstarken, von ätherischen Kantilene-Tönen umspielten Stimme im Zentrum und viel Platz für expressive, herzerwärmende Improvisationen von Trygve Seim und Mathias Eick.
Peter Füssl, Kulturzeitschrift AT
Elle chante sur cet album des poèmes du Norvégien Jon Fosse, don’t vous avez, dans le livret, le texte en norvégien et la traduction en anglais. Elle chante l’amour, la nature, le vent, le soleil, la mer, les mort qui vivent en nous, les corps qui se touchent. Accompagnée de superbe façon par les interventions minimalistes mais toujours pertinentes de Mathias Eick à la trompette, de Trygve Seim au sax, de Mats Eilertsen à la contrebasse et de Thomas Strønen à la batterie. La musique de Langeland est lyrique, langeide, nostalgique mais sans tristesse, belle comme les paysages caressés par le vent, comme la mer effleurée par le soleil, comme les goélands planant dans le ciel.
Jean-Claude Vantroyen, Le Soir
Die reduzierte Musik nutzt den Raum, den Fosses Gedichte öffnen – auch mit ihrem Zug ins Metaphysische. Aufgenommen in den Rainbow Studios Oslo ist eine filigrane Musik entstanden. […] Schreiben, sagt Fosse, ist für ihn ein ‘Akt des Zuhörens’. Mit dieser Musik kann man sich seinem Werk auf eine ungewöhnliche und nahbare Weise zuwenden.
René Zipperlen, Badische Zeitung
Filo conduttore delle nuove composizioni di Sinikka Langeland è il lavoro del Premio Nobel 2023 per la Letteratura lo scrittore norvegese Jon Fosse, la cui ‘drammaturgia e la prosa innovativa danno voce all’indicibile’, autore della trilogia “Settologia”, in corso di traduzione in italiano. Il libretto che accompagna l’album ne riporta i testi in norvegese e in inglese, con poesie in sintonia con il personale universo di Langeland sempre attenta alla dimensione spirituale del bosco e della natura in genere, specie quando si tratta del Finnskogen, la foresta che interseca Norvegia e Svezia […] Per questo album da solista, il sesto per l’ECM, la cantante Sinikka Langeland ha scelto un quartetto norvegese con Mathias Eick alla tromba, Trygve Seim al sassofono, Mats Eilertsen al basso e Thomas Strønen alla batteria. Ne risulta un gruppo coeso, in cui tutti si conoscono e sono a loro agio nell’esplorare e slabbrare i confini fra linguaggi jazz e folk, sempre guidati da un profondo ascolto reciproco. […] Perché con Langeland, è il suono dell’insieme che conta, così come le sue ecologie acustiche rimandano sempre a quelle terrestri che abitiamo e che veniamo invitati ad esplorare, un passo più in là, un po’ più profondamente. […] Ma al suono fortemente radicato nella materialità del mondo pensa ‘Wind Song’ con Langeland che ancora tutto al suono di uno scacciapensieri e alle misurate pennellate della kantele, ghiotta occasione per gli inventivi scambi fra Eilertsen e Strønen. Dal canto loro, Seim ed Eick sanno incidere profondamente con i propri strumenti nelle narrazioni e farle letteralmente volare, come nel loro alternarsi in ‘Wind and Sun’ o nei passaggi più meditativi di ‘A Child Who Exists’, il secondo brano di cui vengono offerte due versioni.
Alessio Surian, Blogfoolk
La sorgente ispirativa di questa artista ha una propria collocazione geografica nel territorio sito tra Norvegia e Svezia, il Finnskogen, conosciuto come la Foresta dei Finlandesi […] In questo ultimo album ECM, l’artista norvegese ha messo in musica i versi di uno dei più famosi poeti e drammaturghi contemporanei come Jon Fosse – anch’egli norvegese, conosciuto come ‘il nuovo Ibsen’ – che descrive il suo processo di scrittura come un atto d’ascolto. […] l’artista norvegese torna con un nuovo album, ‘Wind and Sun’, non più da sola ma con un gruppo di valenti musicisti ben conosciuti in Norvegia che trasportano il suo canto adamantino attraverso i testi poetici di Fosse. […] Il primo brano è ‘Row my Ocean’ già editato nel precedente album Wolf Rune ma qui, all’interno del protettivo gruppo che circonda l’Autrice, la musica prende una strada diversa. […] Il kantele opera con gli stessi criteri di un pianoforte fino al momento in cui, dopo una breve sospensione sorretta solo da qualche leggero colpo di piatti, entrano i fiati malinconici e nebbiosi. Il brano, a questo punto, sembra quasi una ballad sui generis, tra pause riempite solo dal contrabbasso e dalla batteria con qualche goccia di kantele. L’improvvisazione è magistrale, include più o meno tutti gli strumenti ma a turno, in modo da non coprirsi troppo a vicenda, almeno fino al finale in cui dopo un crescendo collettivo la musica si spegne dietro la voce liturgica della Langeland.
Riccardo Talamazzi, Offtopic Magazine
Nach dem schlichten, konzentrierten Soloalbum ‘Wolf Rune’ hat die Sängerin, Komponistin und Kantele-Spielerin Sinikka Langeland diesmal eine Gruppe erstklassiger norwegischer (Jazz-)Musiker um sich versammelt, um den zwölf Tracks ihres neuen Albums Atmosphäre, Tiefe und betörende Klangschattierungen zu verleihen. ‘Wind and Sun’ ist ein beschwörend-raunendes Klangkunstwerk, das von der bewährten ECM-Produktion tief in alle Verästelungen und Klangfarben hinein detailtreu, aber glücklicherweise nicht ‘überbelichtet-glatt’ eingefangen wurde. Langelands Vokalmelodien sind sozusagen der Baumstamm der Songs, während die für ihre weiche, mit Atem spielende Tongebung und vokale Linienführung international bekannten Bläser (Trygve Seim, Saxofon; Mathias Eick, Trompete) feines Ast- und Blattwerk hinzuzaubern. Langelands Musik verbindet die Quelle alter Volksweisen des sogenannten ‘Finnskogen’, eines Waldgebiets in der Grenzregion zwischen Norwegen und Schweden, mit improvisatorischer Entfaltung. Wo das eine aufhört und das andere beginnt, verschleiern die Musiker. Langeland hat sich forschend so tief in die Tradition der Volksweisen vergraben, dass ihre eigenen Lieder so zeitlos wirken diese. Auf ‘Wind and Sun’ ist Langelands mystische, sich zwischen Ritus und Folklore bewegende Musik inspiriert durch die von Naturbildern durchzogene Lyrik des norwegischen Schriftstellers Jon Fosse.
Tobias Pfleger, Fair Audio
The Norwegian Langeland’s previous ECM releases have featured settings of the work of such notable Nordic poets as Edith Södergran, Olav H. Hauge and Tomas Tranströmer. Her recent ‘Wolf Rune’ included some striking material by the contemporary Norwegian poet Jon Fosse (born 1959). Here Fosse’s work features exclusively, sometimes in suite-like form, together with some related instrumental pieces. […] The questing, affirmative nature of Fosse’s spare yet resonant lines is caught to perfection by Langeland on vocals, kantele and Jew’s harp, complemented by adroit, diversely pitched and developed contributions from the melodically oriented and tonally distinctive Eick (t) and Seim(ts,ss), Eilertsen (b) and Strønen. […] ‘Wind And Sun’ features a most subtle range of shifting pulse and rhythmic impetus, including the irresistible laid-back Latin grooves of ‘The Love’ and the freshly cast, near-walking bass quality of the meditative yet blues-aware and finger-clicking concluding suite which is kicked off by ‘You Hear My Heart Come.’ Could such beautiful, folk-touched, mood-rich and mesmerising music be jazz? You bet!
Michael Tucker, Jazz Journal
Nach Runenliedern ihrer waldreichen Heimat präsentiert die 60-Jährige hier mit einem All-Star-Ensemble zwölf Gedichte des 1959 geborenen norwegischen Lyrikers Jon Fosse […] Verdichtet werden ihre duftigen Klanggespinste, in denen auch mal ein Donnergrollen aufblitzt, vom Saxofonisten Trygve Seim, der dezent schöne Melodien einbringt, während Mathias Eick seine Trompete zart-rauchig strahlen lässt. Dazu pulst, sofern er nicht mit dem Bogen vibrierende Flächigkeit evoziert, Mats Eilertsen einzelne Bassnoten von sonorer Intensität, die sich zu tänzelnder Geläufigkeit aufreihen und vom filigran trommelnden Thomas Strønen mit vertrackten Beats unterlegt werden. Dynamisch schillernd ist ’Wind And Sun’ ein Solitär im Genre ’Lyrik & Jazz’ – ergreifend emotional und hochmusikalisch.
Sven Thielmann, Fono Forum
Als die norwegische Sängerinund Kantele-Spielerin Sinikka Langeland dieses stimmungsvolle Album zwischen Jazz und Folk in Angriff nahm, konnte sie nicht wissen, dass sie gerade einen Nobelpreisträger vertonte: Doch im Oktober 2023 erhielt ihr Landsmann Jon Fosse tatsächlich den Preis. Auch ohne diesen glücklichen Zufall wäre die CD ’Wind And Sun’ bemerkenswert. Die Innigkeit und melancholische Weiträumigkeit der Musik spiegelt Fosses Lyrik subtil.
Manfred Papst, NZZ am Sonntag
