SINIKKA LANGELAND - Starflowers (2007) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Starflowers” is a fascinating ECM debut for Norwegian vocalist and kantele player Sinikka Langeland. A folk singer from the forest lands near the Swedish border, Langeland explores in her work the relationship between man and nature. On this disc she sets verse of lumberjack-poet Hans Børli (1918-89), with help from an outstanding ensemble including trumpeter Arve Henriksen, saxophonist Trygve Seim, bassist Anders Jormin and percussionist Markku Ounaskari. Altogether: a marvellous confluence of folk music, sung poetry and Nordic improvisation brilliantly marshalled in Manfred Eicher’s production. ecm
Tracklist :
1    Høstnatt på Fjellskogen 4'10
(Sinikka Langeland)
2    Den lill fløyten 4'37
(Sinikka Langeland)
3    Sølv 3'09
(Sinikka Langeland)
4    Treet som vekser opp-ned 6'30
(Sinikka Langeland)
5    Saltstein 3'42
(Sinikka Langeland)
6    Sus i myrull 5'14
(Sinikka Langeland)
7    Støv 2'53
(Sinikka Langeland)
8    Stjernestund 7'52
(Sinikka Langeland)
9    Langt innpå skoga 8'08
(Sinikka Langeland)
10    Det er ei slik natt 4'00
(Sinikka Langeland)
11    Vindtreet 6'00
(Sinikka Langeland)
12    Elghjertet 5'54
(Sinikka Langeland)
13    Har du lyttet til elvene om natta? 9'08
(Sinikka Langeland)
Credits :
Sinikka Langeland - Vocals, Kantele
Arve Henriksen - Trumpet
Trygve Seim - Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone
Anders Jormin - Double Bass
Markku Ounaskari - Drums           

SINIKKA LANGELAND - The Land That is Not (2011) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Further adventures at the interstices of folk music and jazz-rooted improvisation, as Sinikka Langeland takes the work begun on the much praised “Starflowers” to the next level. As the Irish Times’s Ray Comiskey noted of the earlier disc: “Sinikka Langeland is a gifted folk singer, but not one stifled by tradition. Her ability to work seamlessly with jazz musicians, as she does so memorably here, is part of the reason for the success of this marriage of folk, jazz and poetry. (…) Individually and collectively, the quintet is superb, Henriksen and Seim play brilliantly off the voice and each other, while the group catches a variety of moods persuasively; they can groove with understated power (…)” All of this applies with equal pertinence to “The Land That Is Not”. ecm
Tracklist
1    The Land That Is Not 7'56
(Sinikka Langeland)
2    What Is Tomorrow 4'49
(Sinikka Langeland)
3    A Strip Of Sea 2'27
(Anders Jormin, Sinikka Langeland)
4    Triumph Of Being 6'15
(Sinikka Langeland)
5    The River Murmurs 3'45
(Anders Jormin, Sinikka Langeland)
6    Lucky Cat 4'58
(Sinikka Langeland)
7    It's The Dream 4'17
(Sinikka Langeland)
8    The Day Cools 5'41
(Sinikka Langeland)
9    The Rose 3'14
(Sinikka Langeland)
10    Spring In The Mountain 3'26
(Sinikka Langeland)
11    Slowly The Truth Dawns 6'53
(Sinikka Langeland)
Credits :
Sinikka Langeland - Vocal, Kantele
Arve Henriksen - Trumpet
Trygve Seim - Tenor Saxophone, Soprano Saxophone
Anders Jormin - Double-Bass
Markku Ounaskari - Drums        

SINIKKA LANGELAND - The Half-Finished Heaven (2015) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

Ever since Sinikka Langeland began recording in 1994, the composer, singer, kantele master, and musicologist has become almost inseparably identified with the music of the Finnskogen, folk music from "the forest of the Finns" in southeastern Norway. But she has also explored classical music both canonical and contemporary, as well as jazz. The kantele is a fingerpicked harp from the dulcimer and zither families with anywhere from 10 to 39 strings, and is played on a table. The Half-Finished Heaven is her fourth offering for ECM, and stands in marked contrast to her earlier albums. Its focus here is primarily on the sound of the kantele as a centering instrument in an instrumental ensemble -- there are only three vocal pieces among the 12 tracks. Her bandmembers are Lars Anders Tomter on viola, percussionist Markku Ounaskari, and saxophonist Trygve Seim. This music is "freer" than anything she's released previously. Two of the vocal songs contain the poems of Nobel prize winner Tomas Tranströmer, and one is an adapted Finnskogen polsdans (folk song). Langeland's intent with this recording was to explore the mysteries of nature, its hidden movements and grand gestures. "Hare Rune" commences the album solemnly, with gently played, cavernous tom-toms, smoky melodic tenor saxophone, and the sustained tones of the interwoven layers of plucked kanteles creating harmonic richness. Tranströmer's "Ljuset Strommar In" ("The Light Streams In") celebrates the emergence of the early spring from winter. Langeland's alto voice elliptically inhabits the lyric as Tomter's viola uses the low strings weight her vocal. The kantele adds color and the percussion creates a whispered pulse. "Caw of the Crane" is the album's heart. A dark, dissonant viola rumbles while glistening cymbals add contrast. The kantele adds a heartbeat, then a harmonic palette for the viola to shift and offer a lustrous if somewhat mournful melody. The interplay of kantele and viola is as beguiling as it is investigative. "The Magical Bird" is so sprightly, it's almost a dance. Seim's saxophone plays lyric rounds atop the snare as kanteles both plucked and strummed add a nearly exuberant force, urging the saxophonist to explore. He does so freely with a great range of expression; through all of the tune's interplay and improvisation, it contains an undeniable groove. "The Blue Tit’s Spring Song" may begin sparsely, with a call-and-response dialogue between kantele and viola, but Langeland asserts reel-like melody and the other players rally on tabla and tenor. By the middle, it's almost rocking as Langeland vigorously strums and plucks. While we may have become accustomed to Langeland's singing voice, The Half-Finished Heaven is so well-conceived and played, we don't really miss it. The album is breathtaking with quietly majestic interrogative beauty, and canny in its eloquence. It resists easy categorization and exceeds all expectations.
>This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa'<
Tracklist
1    Hare rune 4'07
(Sinikka Langeland)
2    The light streams in 4'29
(Sinikka Langeland)
3    The white burden 3'55
(Sinikka Langeland)
4    The half-finished heaven 6'49
(Sinikka Langeland)
5    The woodcock's flight 5'53
(Sinikka Langeland)
6    Caw of the crane 5'39
(Sinikka Langeland)
7    The tree and the sky 3'51
(Sinikka Langeland)
8    The magical bird 3'44
(Sinikka Langeland)
9    Hymn to the fly 3'28
(Sinikka Langeland)
10    Animal miniatures 2'06
(Sinikka Langeland)
11    The blue tit's spring song 4'27
(Sinikka Langeland)
12    Animal moment 0'19
(Sinikka Langeland)
Credits :
Sinikka Langeland - Kantele, Vocals
Lars Anders Tomter - Viola
Trygve Seim - Tenor Saxophone
Markku Ounaskari - Percussion  

SINIKKA LANGELAND - The Magical Forest (2016) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

After the largely instrumental The Half-Finished Heaven was issued in 2015, composer, kantele player, and musicologist Sinikka Langeland returns with The Magical Forest, a vocal album. These songs continue her long study of Finnskogen (music from the "forest of the Finns") lore based on fragments and traces she discovered in texts, stories, and songs about the axis mundi or "world tree." For this date she reassembled her full Starflowers quintet (named for her 2006 ECM debut) of trumpeter Arve Henriksen, saxophonist Trygve Seim, bassist Anders Jormin, and percussionist Markku Ounaskari. The group also played on her 2010 offering This Land That Is Not and has backed her in concert settings for a decade. Langeland also enlisted the vocal ensemble Trio Medieval, setting this date apart from virtually everything else she's done while retaining her musical character. The source material digs deep into the sense of place that the world tree represents, a pillar that connects not only earth to sky -- literally and poetically -- but the spiritual in pagan and Christian traditions.

Opener "Puun Loitsu" ("Prayer to the Tree Goddess") is a 19th century rune song offered as a near tribal chant. Langeland's voice and kantele are accompanied only by the bassline until two-thirds of the way through, when Trio Medieval adds a stunning modern polyphony. "Sammas," one of several lyrics attributed to Finnskogen seeress Kaisa Vilhunen, weaves a spectral jazz interlude to a folk song, where the axis mundi is a pillar to heaven made of silver and invokes the Holy Trinity in its introduction. The engagement between the frontline improvisers and rhythm section creates a moody, spectral soundworld for the singers. After a spoken word intro, "Vargman" ("Wolfman") becomes a haunting improvisational interplay between the quintet and Trio Medieval; Langeland's contralto relates a sung narrative above it all. Perhaps the most endearing quality of The Magical Forest, its center, so to speak, is Langeland's kantele playing. Her Finnish table harp bridges jazz improvisation and folk song in "Beaver," and illustrates the reach of Finnskogen from Western Europe to its outlying connections in Siberia and even Japan in "Kamu," and underscores the inseparable relationship in this music between vocalists and instrumentalists on "Pillar to Heaven." Langeland takes chances on The Magical Forest. She allows improvisers a greater degree of freedom. In turn, they extend the reach of her songs from the historical past to the present without erasing their folklore. By involving Trio Medieval, she invites a more fluid yet constant relationship between the physical and metaphysical. Together they illustrate the universal aspects of Finnskogen culture in global symbolism and myth.
>This comment is posted on Allmusic by Thom Jurek, follower of our blog 'O Púbis da Rosa'<
Tracklist
1    Puun Loitsu 5'58
(Sinikka Langeland)
2    Sammas 4'23
(Sinikka Langeland)
3    Jacob’s Dream 7'38
(Sinikka Langeland)
4    The Wolfman 5'05
(Sinikka Langeland)
5    The Magical Forest 5'34
(Sinikka Langeland)
6    Køyri 5'45
(Sinikka Langeland)
7    Kamui 6'09
(Sinikka Langeland)
8    Karsikko 4'34
(Sinikka Langeland)
9    Pillar to Heaven 4'58
(Sinikka Langeland)
Credits :
Sinikka Langeland - Kantele, Vocals
Arve Henriksen - Trumpet
Trygve Seim - Soprano Saxophone, Tenor Saxophone
Anders Jormin - Double Bass
Markku Ounaskari - Percussion
Trio Mediaeval   
Anna Maria Friman - Vocals
Berit Opheim - Vocals
Linn Andrea Fuglseth - Vocals