Talinka’s self-titled album is the sound of a group that seems to have always been there, sharing soulful, mysterious music from shadowy places of the heart….
Talinka
Self/titled
Monjune Records
10 tracks / 48:54
Dreamy, elegant, moody, evocative, acoustic jazz overtakes the listener on this self-titled musical journey. Tali Atzmon’s intoxicating vocals, whether singing wordless melodic phrases (“Talinka”), or oblique, mysterious, somewhat dark lyrics about less-than-ideal relationships, permeate the tracks. Occasionally jumping octaves with ease, other times seeming to swim effortlessly along the current of the music, and once even channeling Yoko Ono, if Ono had such educated pipes (“Four 2 Tango”).
Jazz is a wide genre and the sophistication and obvious chops of Talinka would most likely put the band in that category, although the truth is, they don’t fit neatly into most genres. Jenny Bliss Bennett plays viola da gamba, violin, flute, and vocals; Gilad Atsmon plays bass clarinet, soprano sax, and accordion, and Yaron Stavi plays double bass. Certainly not your average teenage pop combo, as Frank Zappa might say. Joining the core band on this project are ‘guests,’ Frank Harrison on piano and Enzo Zirilli on percussion. The ensemble produces slow-burning, melodic pieces that flirt with standard sounds until the melodies take unusual turns. There are elements of folk and world music as well as something vaguely European about this group, who even manage to incorporate hints of tango into their repertoire.
The recording, produced by Gilad Atzmon, is warm and appropriately intimate – an audiophile’s delight. Talinka’s self-titled album is the sound of a group that seems to have always been there, sharing soulful, mysterious music from shadowy places of the heart….
Talinka is something beautiful, unique, soulful, and maybe even a bit sad – but it’s definitely something you haven’t heard before. You might want to change that….
-Bert Saraco
3 1/2 tocks
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