Elena Mindru will celebrate the new album by going on a tour in Finland and Estonia with her quintet. The Finland-based vocalist has Romanian roots.
Elena Mindru, the freshest face of the rising generation of Finnish jazz vocalists, will release her second album Evening in Romania on 23 September. The album will be launched in Finland at the National Theatre’s Lavaklubi. Earlier this year, in May, Mindru’s group won the Finnish semi-finals of the Young Nordic Jazz Comets competition and will perform in a showcase for Scandinavian jazz groups at Koko Jazz Club, Helsinki, in September. The showcase is part of the programme of the international Jazz Finland Festival. To celebrate the new album, Mindru and her group will perform in Tallinn and Tampere, among other cities.
Evening in Romania is a follow-up for Mindru’s 2012 debut Romanian Christmas Stories. Evening in Romania was released in Romania this July, and it will be the first album by her to be released in Finland. On the recording, Mindru’s warm voice is accompanied by four promising Finnish jazz artists; Sampo Hiukkanen (violin), Tuomas J. Turunen (piano), Eero Seppä (bass) and Anssi Tirkkonen (drums). The listener will be in for a fresh cocktail of tradition-informed jazz and Romanian folk music. Mindru’s voice and Hiukkanen’s violin give the album a character of its own, making it stand out from many other Finnish jazz releases. The majority of the compositions are written by the vocalist herself, while a number being either from pianist Turunen’s pen or traditional Romanian folk songs. Recorded in Finland, the album is to be released on Mindru’s own label EM Records, which she started in 2012, initially for the purpose of releasing her debut album.
In addition to singing, Mindru has studied the violin and the piano in her adulthood. She was accepted to Boston’s prestigious Berklee College of Music at the age of 18 by virtue of her success in the entrance exam. Unable to attend the school, she pursued her studies in composition and music theory at Romania’s Gheorghe Dima Music Academy. She ended up in Finland by way of the Nordic Master of Jazz study programme, which she finished in 2013. Mindru has won several European jazz prizes over the years, including the audience award and the second place in the "Shure Montreux Jazz Voice" competition at Montreux Jazz Festival. That year, among the jury members sat the legendary Quincy Jones. In spring 2014 a composition by Mindru was arranged for a symphony orchestra and premiered by the Transylvania State Philharmonic Orchestra. The concert, entitled "Symphonic meets jazz", featured Mindru both as a soloist and producer. She is currently doing her postgraduate studies at the jazz department of Sibelius Academy, tutored by Professor Jukkis Uotila. This October, she will feature as a soloist for European Jazz Orchestra in Prague.
Elena Mindru Evening in Romania press copies: press@heihei.fi
Elena Mindru: Evening in Romania
EM Records, release date in Finland: 23 Sep 2014
Distribution: Groovy Records and Playground Music
1. Jocul tambalelor / 2. Bluebird / 3. Swan (Balcad) / 4. Reflection / 5. Evening in Romania / 6. I Do Not / 7. Consolation / 8. Life / 9. Mai uitam uneori
ELENA & THE ROM ENSEMBLE
Elena Mindru, vocals / Sampo Hiukkanen, violin / Tuomas J. Turunen, piano / Eero Seppä, bass / Anssi Tirkkonen, drums
ELENA & THE ROM ENSEMBLE LIVE
16 Sep Tallinn, Philly Joe's Jazz Bar
18 Sep Helsinki, YNJC Showcase event, Koko Jazz Club
23 Sep Helsinki, Lavaklubi
24 Sep Tampere, Tampere Culture Centre
25 Sep Jyväskylä, Poppari