Elina Duni and Rob Luft truly have something special. Since meeting in 2017, the two have been musically intertwined, performing a tantalising mixture of jazz, folk, traditional ballads, and original compositions on three different continents so far. This week a member of the Box Office and Marketing Team sat down with Elina and Rob in preparation for their return to Triskel Arts Centre for Elina Duni & Rob Luft Quartet: A Time To Remember on October 26.
Tell me about how you two met and formed the duo you now collaborate as.
Elina: We met at the Montreux Jazz Festival competition in 2017, where Rob won the guitar competition. As part of the prize, all the musicians had one week with a mentor – usually a big name in the jazz world – and the vocalist mentor had passed away unfortunately, so they called me.
You typically perform original compositions on stage; when do you make exception to this?
Rob: Well actually, that is going to be the case in Cork where we will play primarily original material, but in general we play a mixture of traditional songs, jazz standards as well. Cork is a special gig for us as we’ve named it after the last album which will obviously feature a lot of our original material, but because we travel around Europe so much playing in Italy, Albania, France, and Switzerland, it makes sense that when we travel we adapt our repertoire for the country we’re in. Elina can sing in ten different languages, so if we’re in Greece or Albania we pick original pieces from that place. With Elina being originally from Albania we have a strong focus on traditional Balkan music influences, as well as Mediterranean.
Elina: I would also add that our duo, or our project, is a musical journey. Different styles and different languages to bridge the gap between people.
Who inspires you as musicians?
Rob: Yeah, we’re both inspired by the great instrumentalists of our respective instruments who came before us in jazz mostly, but with us, I think what’s really interesting is that we’re two individuals who are creating something greater than the sum of our parts. That’s the whole concept of the project and why we have two names, two distinct voices. While I have great inspiration from famous guitarists, people like Bill Frisell or Nick Drake, those influences are always present, but this project is greater than that to me.
What is the most unique place you each have played?
Elina: I think one of the most unique places for me was a cave in Sardinia, Grotta di Nettuno. The beauty is that in Europe in the summer, you have lots of very particular places where you can play, especially places with such amazing history. We have two or three of those places, but Grotta di Nettuno was special for me. People had lived there since Paleolithic times, and there are still drawings on the walls from them. You go there by boat, and the sea is so loud there but you get to play your music there and it’s so incredibly special.
Rob: We just played last month in Pythagoras’s Amphitheatre. I’m no expert in him or his theorem, but there’s a town named after him in Greece and there’s a festival where you get to play in the same amphitheatre the ancient Greeks, and Pythagoras himself, performed.
What’s coming up next for you both?
Elina: We just recorded a duo album that we hope to release on ECM next year. What we want to promote in Cork is just good music!
Rob: We always want to perform something from the place we’re playing in. Last time we played in Triskel in 2019 we managed to get an Irish folk song in — The Water is Wide, I think — and we’re looking for some new music to play for the next performance.
Three words to describe your music?
Elina: Sensual, open-minded, heartbreaking.
Rob: Nostalgic, dreamy, and universal.
Cats or dogs?
Rob: Cats.
Elina: Cats!
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