Elina Duni & Rob Luft Live

Elina Duni & Rob Luft in concert by candlelight

Elina Duni: vocals

Rob Luft: guitar

with

Rick Finlay: percussion

Jeremy Shoham: saxophone

Plus opening set from singer/guitarist Robert Vel

It’s sometimes said that jazz vocals are supposed to sound like the singer, not the song. Few contemporary jazz-influenced singers manage to sound so intensely like themselves while drawing on such a variety of genres, languages, and cultural backstories as the Albania-born vocalist Elina Duni

Multi-award winning singer Duni was born into a highly artistic family in Tirana in 1981 and first sang on stage at the age of five. In 1992 after the fall of the communist regime, she and her mother settled in Geneva. Soon after, she started classical piano lessons and discovered jazz, before going on to study singing and composition in the jazz department at the Hochschule der Künste Bern.

Rob Luft is one of the rising stars of London's flourishing contemporary jazz scene. His joyously original sound finds an ideal counterpart in Elina Duni's vocals. Together, they take us on a journey through timeless folk songs and originals.

With two highly-acclaimed albums on the prestigious ECM label, their most recent, A Time To Remember is a masterpiece. In its mix of Duni/Luft originals with European, American, Kosovan and Albanian traditional songs, it complements the same band’s cinematic 2020 album Lost Ships. But Duni’s and Luft’s travels have since taken them on expeditions to the Sinai Desert and the Red Sea, and a sense of appreciative awe touches much of this music.

Press:

"A remarkable capacity for expressing strength and resolve by the most reticent of means" Guardian

“An artist with a rare sensitivity to the connecting points between pure vocal and instrumental sound, textual narratives in different languages, and the cinematic qualities in good lyrics" Jazzwise

“Not just highly recommended, but unmissable.” Jazzviews

“The sparse, fragile, barely consonant chords of her piano style beautifully complement the rawness of her voice.” Songlines

“Duni’s voice is remarkable, for while it is crystal clear in its multilingual enunciation it is also intimate and expressive in tone.” Jazz Journal

Awards:

2020  Presto Music Award for "Lost Ships", London - United Kingdom

2019  Klara Award for "Partir", Brussels - Belgium

2017  Swiss Music Prize

2015  Diaspora Award, Embassy of Kosovo Bern - Switzerland

2013  Kult Prize for "Matanë Malit", Tirana - Albania

2012  Jazz Pott Prize, Essen - Germany

2010  Pro Helvetia "Priority Jazz " -  Switzerland

2008  HKB Prize, Bern - Switzerland

2008  "Coup de Coeur" Bern - Switzerland

2007  Friedl Wald Prize - Switzerland

A wide selection of beers, wines, soft drinks and light snacks can be ordered from the bar – cashless payments only.

Proceeds from this event will go towards THE ST JUDE’S RESTORATION FUND, just the beginning of looking after this unique Edwin Lutyens design so that the building can continue to serve the local community.

Info for those who have booked…

The seating for this concert is unallocated: sit where you like – if you want the best choice of seats arrive early. And if you have a big group, you should ideally plan to arrive in good time to sit together.

A selection of beers, wines, soft drinks and light snacks can be ordered from the bar, which will be open from 6.30pm – cashless payments only.

As some of the seating in the church is quite firm (!) you are invited to bring your own cushions if you wish.

There is a limited amounted of parking in the church car park on a first come, first served basis.

Otherwise, if you are arriving by car, please allow time to find parking on adjacent streets – there is usually plenty of space within 5 minutes walking distance.

And finally, we don't want this concert to be super formal – so please feel free to get up between tunes to visit the bar or the washrooms – you don't have to wait until the interval.

Performance begins at 7.30pm and will end around 10.15pm