Tuija Komi: MIDNIGHT SUN

Tuija Komi – vocals & arrangements; Walter Lang – piano, FX & arrangements; Peter Cudek – double bass; Martin Kolb – drums

"Hey - Pippi Longstocking..." But wait... stop...! What does this strong, courageous little girl from Sweden have to do with this? Aren't we rather in Finland, the home country of Tuija Komi, who now presents her new album Midnight Sun? Peppi Pitkätossu (pronounced as written) is the name of the Swedish girl in Finnish - and Tuija Komi elevates this classic children's song to a true jazz anthem. With sensitivity and vocal power, she gives this timeless earworm, which connects generations, a musically new, brilliant attire. Sung in Finnish, she also makes a clear statement of her Finnish heritage with the vocalise sequences - a wonderful variation of classic scat singing. And all this is very Tuija Komi.

This unique quality, this very personal touch - both vocally and musically, as well as in the arrangements of the pieces - is what gives the entire album its special radiance. She boldly juxtaposes pop classics like Thank You For The Music (ABBA), You Make Me Feel Brand-new (Simply Red), or It's Too Late (Carole King) with a Feeling Good that Nina Simone impressively performed in 1965. She also draws from Finnish pop literature (Suru on kunniavieras) as well as the wonderfully melancholic ballad Gabriella's Song from the film "As It Is in Heaven" by Swedish composer Stefan Nilsson, and tailors a perfectly fitting lyrical garment for the Latin composition Samba Tzigane by world-class trumpeter Dusko Goykovich. She closes the album with If I Had My Life To Live Over, which was already sung by Bob Eberly in 1947 - and chooses her freshly minted original composition Land Of The Midnight Sun as the opener. Interestingly, this musical homage to her homeland was created in sun-drenched Italy during a songwriting workshop at Berklee College of Music with 200 people of all nationalities. "This special mix of the south, sun, and internationality - which I really like - seems to have quietly triggered my homesickness and brought me back to my Nordic roots," Tuija herself says about this song.

Midnight sun and weeks of darkness, shining brightly and full of joy of life, dusky twilight and delicate melancholy - one always resonates as a memory in the other. This is Finland - and Tuija Komi is a child of this magnificent light-and-shadow theater. With a light touch and a powerful voice, she transforms each of the chosen songs into her own. And she can rely on a band consisting of Walter Lang (piano), Peter Cudek (double bass), and Martin Kolb (drums), who follow this powerhouse woman Tuija Komi as sensitively as confidently, like a perfectly attuned sound body. (And one thing seems certain: if Astrid Lindgren had known this Tuija - she would have dedicated her own story to her...!)

For more information, visit: http://www.tuijakomi.de/