Trees of Light

The creative partnership of bassist Anders Jormin and singer/violinist/violist Lena Willemark was first given exposure on ECM in 2004.

Shandee finds a friendly arm at a granite quarry. Ned drops down a hole in a golf course. Luna meets a man made of light bulbs at a tanning parlor.

Tree of Life contains, as well as the definitive Suite, all the pieces composed and selected for the "Tree of Life" night show at EXPO 2015.
In the idea and in the image of the Tree I feel something extremely ancient, ancestral, and at the same time extremely modern. A correspondence where the music connects with the symbol, leading back to the myth of Orpheus, who through the power of Sound enchanted dolphins and made trees dance.

Staten Island is both close enough to New York City and far enough away to make it easily the most exotic of the 5 boroughs. Rza from WuTang Clan attributes the uniqueness of the Wu to it’s Hip Hop contemporaries at the time to just that dynamic. Growing up on an island that is neighbors with the capital of the world, but has no bridges to it, no trains or tunnels, only a ferry, turns out to be the perfect recipe to give a New York band a unique take on the energy of the city. Paul Schalda, the bandleader, singer and songwriter of Paul & The Tall Trees is from Staten Island.