Dino Saluzzi, Anja Lechner Ojos Negros

Ojos Negros is a 2007 collaborative album between Dino Saluzzi and Anja Lechner. This was released by ECM.

Few artists have as rich and varied a history with ECM as Dino Saluzzi. The Argentine bandoneon master has recorded 10 albums, and each one tells it's own endlessly inventive musical story. The spirit of Dino Saluzzi's work is derived from the oral tradition of Argentina's music and its value on melody and simplicity. A 1996 collaboration with the Munichbased Rosamunde Quartett became the starting point for Saluzzi's work with cellist Anja Lechner. Lechner has had her own success on ECM, most notably with her album, the hit Chants, Hymns and Dances. For the past six years, Saluzzi and Lechner have performed in concert all over Europe. "Ojos Negros" is the first recording from this magical duo, and creates a richly lyrical dialogue that blurs the lines between folk music, jazz and tango. This is chamber music with Argentine traditions, presented through Saluzzi compositions and the beautiful old tango tune "Ojos negros (Black Eyes)".

Israeli-French pianist Yonathan Avishai has made important contributions to the music of Avishai Cohen, as documented on Into The Silence and Cross My Palm With Silver. In parallel, over the last five years, he has been developing his own project with the trio heard here, with Paris-based Israeli bassist Yoni Zelnik and Donald Kontomanou, French drummer of Guinean and Greek heritage. Sometimes known as the Modern Times Trio, its programme here opens with Duke Ellington’s “Mood Indigo”: “Ellington is still a thoroughly modern pianist and composer,” Yonathan Avishai muses. In the original pieces that follow, Avishai makes references to a broad range of musics and experiences. “Les pianos de Brazzaville” recalls his journeys to the Republic of the Congo. “Tango” is a creative response to hearing Dino Saluzzi and Anja Lechner’s Ojos Negros. “When Things Fall Apart” is inspired by the compositions of Avishai Cohen. Such diverse influences are filtered through Yonathan’s tradition-conscious piano playing, alert to old values of blues feeling and swing yet also strikingly original in its decisiveness and concision. Joys and Solitudes was recorded at Lugano’s Auditiorio Stelio Molo RSI, in February 2018, and produced by Manfred Eicher.

Israeli-French pianist Yonathan Avishai has made important contributions to the music of Avishai Cohen, as documented on Into The Silence and Cross My Palm With Silver. In parallel, over the last five years, he has been developing his own project with the trio heard here, with Paris-based Israeli bassist Yoni Zelnik and Donald Kontomanou, French drummer of Guinean and Greek heritage. Sometimes known as the Modern Times Trio, its programme here opens with Duke Ellington’s “Mood Indigo”: “Ellington is still a thoroughly modern pianist and composer,” Yonathan Avishai muses. In the original pieces that follow, Avishai makes references to a broad range of musics and experiences. “Les pianos de Brazzaville” recalls his journeys to the Republic of the Congo.

Israeli-French pianist Yonathan Avishai has made important contributions to the music of Avishai Cohen, as documented on Into The Silence and Cross My Palm With Silver. In parallel, over the last five years, he has been developing his own project with the trio heard here, with Paris-based Israeli bassist Yoni Zelnik and Donald Kontomanou, French drummer of Guinean and Greek heritage. Sometimes known as the Modern Times Trio, its programme here opens with Duke Ellington’s “Mood Indigo”: “Ellington is still a thoroughly modern pianist and composer,” Yonathan Avishai muses. In the original pieces that follow, Avishai makes references to a broad range of musics and experiences. “Les pianos de Brazzaville” recalls his journeys to the Republic of the Congo.