Elina Duni is a Swiss-Albanian jazz singer and composer. She left Albania at the age of ten to live and study in Geneva, Switzerland. She went on to study singing, composition, and teaching at the University of the Arts Bern, but from 2004 onward, Albanian folk music became a primary influence.

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& ROB LUFT

In 2017, Elina Duni and Rob Luft’s paths crossed at the Montreux Jazz Festival, marking the inception of a unique project. They have since toured the world and released two critically acclaimed albums on ECM Records in a quartet formation.

Their latest album, a stripped-back duo effort, revisits the essence of their initial meeting.

Here we can witness the stark beauty of Elina Duni’s vocals blending with Rob Luft’s crystalline guitar lines in a mesmerizing dance. Together, they weave a tapestry of songs that evoke the mystery and joy of the night, the moon, and the magic that lives within us all. This musical journey is a gentle caress, a soothing lullaby that offers hope in the darkness, reminding us of the solace of home.

SOLO

“Partir” (Departure)
Text, music, arrangements and interpretations of traditional songs by Elina Duni.

We are all departing in one way or another, bound to be torn away from what we love, and this is the point of origin of this particular creation. Throughout the course of “Partir” (nine sketches accompanied by songs in nine different languages), we travel through the deepest abysses of pain, with the heart rough like a desert, to finally arrive at the ultimate refuge, that is, joy. It is through her voice, accompanied in turns by guitar, piano and percussion, that this journey is able to become both singular and universal.

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