Atlantica - 01.03.2002, Page 48

i-site MUSIC❍
46 A T L A N T I C A
J A Z Z
M I N D F U L i s d i s t r i b u t e d b y O m n i t o n e R e c o r d s i n t h e U S a n d E d d a M e d i a a n d P u b l i s h i n g i n I c e l a n d .
The critics hail her as the new Bill Evans or Keith Jarrett, whom
Sunna cites as influences to her charming, lyrical style. Her lat-
est CD, MINDFUL, was named one of the ten best CDs of 2000
by the Virginia Pilot and Time Out New York says, “Fine musi-
cians seem to be among Iceland’s most visible exports these
days, and Sunna Gunnlaugs is proof that jazz is as much a part
of the picture as Björk or Sigur Rós.”
Sunna moved from her native Iceland, where she studied the
classical organ, to the US, where she attended the prestigious
jazz programme at William Paterson College. She now resides
in Brooklyn, New York, where she frequents Prospect Park, and
has become a mainstay on the creative jazz scene there.
Her quartet features some of the most sought-after jazz players
in New York City, being bassist Drew Gress, saxophonist Tony
Malaby and drummer Scott McLemore. Together they have
played at venues such as the Knitting Factory and the Westfield
Jazz Festival, and this spring they will be touring Iceland,
Sweden, France, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Germany.
This summer they will be touring Canada, including a perfor-
mance at the renowned Montreal Jazzfest. Sunna is also work-
ing on a project with jazz singer Kristjana Stefánsdóttir, for
which she has been writing music to Icelandic poetry, and
hopes to record it this year. AMB
An oddball collection of characters making a soundtrack for cartoon capers and drunk-
en realisations — that’s Trabant. The tongue-in-cheek element of Bentley Rhythm Ace
defiles the melancholic side of Air in their first release, ‘Enter Spacebar’, which is like a
one-track diary of a manic-depressive character. It
starts off with all the triumphant clumsiness of a big
beat anthem and closes by wiping the smile off its
face to fade. That contradicting edge and the band’s
musical prowess keeps them on the right side of
electro-cabaret, while making them an amusing
bunch to witness live.
Until they landed up in the dance music press, the
Trabant boys had always considered themselves a
band’s band. The electronic aspects kind of sneaked
in, and their affiliation with Reykjavík dance label
Thule led to remixes by the likes of Q Burns. And
today Trabant describe their sound as “a blend of
robot technology and what we humans still have to
offer music”.
The next release from their Moment of Truth album,
entitled ‘Happy Sunny Song’, starts by pretending
to be an Ibiza sunrise offering and then works its
way into something tinged more with everyday life
than ecstasy. And anyone that can’t find a Super
Furry alliance in Trabant’s ‘Superman’ shouldn’t
worry — it’s entertaining anyway. JMcC
M
ak
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o
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eNew York-based jazz pianist Sunna Gunnlaugs
is getting herself noticed
Loony Tunes
electronic
PHOTO BRIAN SWEENEY
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