Songs
Klezmer trad. with new spices
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Videos
Odessa Bulgar
A klezmer trad, with dark sounds connected to modern times in Odessa
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- artist:Sampo Lassila NARINKKA
- featured artist:Sampo Lassila, Markku Lepistö, Janne Tuomi, Aleksi Trygg
- region:Scandinavia
- release year:2024
- style(s):Klezmer
- country:Finland
- formats:Audio File / Digital, CD (Compact Disc)
- record posted by:Sampo Lassila Narinkka
- label:Narinkaattori Records
- publisher:Narinkaattori Records
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SAMPO LASSILA NARINKKA SUOMIKLEZMER 2
EAST HELSINKI SUITE
The third album of the Sampo Lassila Narinkka band is a tribute to East Helsinki. For its lively neighbourhoods, their stories, nature and people.
As a counterpoint, to tie this new music to the history of klezmer in the European past world, songs from the classic klezmer repertoire were chosen: beautiful, luscious, and some of which are still relevant to this time on some level.
East Helsinki is a combination of ruggedness and beauty. It is not the Helsinki of better-off people that the rest of Finland laughs at a little, maybe even envies. It is rooted, even a little scary, Harlem of Helsinki.
But can the character and places of East Helsinki even be described with the new Finnish klezmer music? A series of songs was born: East-Helsinki Suite, klezmer images from East Helsinki.
The spirit of live playing is strongly present in the music. The sound is only acoustic, no electric instruments are used. The authentic sound- scapes of East Helsinki can place the listener in different landscapes, for example in Roihuvuori’s Alepa or in Vartioharju during May in small hours.
Welcome to East Helsinki.
In it’s music, Sampo Lassila Narinkka actually melts the traditional klezmer -style into the special Finnish atmosphere – the feeling in the Narinkka’s music, composed by the leader Sampo Lassila is distinctively slavic, sentimental, rugged, somehow touchingly honest, but suddenly almost scaringly strong. The musical connection between the band members really happens – in a touching or, on the other hand, hilarious way. The other side of the band's repertoire, the beloved traditional klezmer tunes, are arranged matching the own Narinkka -style, growing the live experience into kind of time travel experience, from the old Bessarabia shtetls to modern Finnish suburbs.
The phenomenom Suomi (“Finland” in Finnish) is not superimposed on the traditional style, but painted faintly and organically inside the style, without forgetting Finnish melancholic and heartwarming humour.
But, ultimately, Sampo Lassila NARINKKA’s acoustic music is really based on that very special moment, when a listener and the musicians can really connect in music, in human music.
"Their music, a fusion of Finnish and European influences, traverses the domain of acoustic klezmer, drawing from a diverse palette of traditions, from Jewish and Balkan folk melodies to Scandinavian chamber music and jazz. Infused with Finnish sensibilities, humor, and storytelling, each composition resonates with a palpable sense of authenticity, while honoring the rich klezmer tradition.
To confine this music within the label of “klezmer” would be a disservice; it transcends boundaries, embracing a multicultural ethos reflective of Finland’s urban landscape. From neoklezmer to Finnish world jazz, the lexicon struggles to encapsulate the breadth of Narinkka’s musical genre."
JGurski, WorldmusicCentral.org