DIANE JARVI: Revontuli ( Northern Lights)

Diane Jarvi

Revontuli ( Northern Lights)

© 1996 Lakehead Music (789577009226)

CD OUT OF STOCK for re-production. Expect long delays.

If you want us to email you the minute this CD arrives, enter your name and email address here. We will not give or sell your info to anyone, and will not use it for any other reason than to tell you when it arrives.

A soothing, scintillating and soulful blend of tangos, waltzes, gypsy music with traditional songs from the Finnish regions of Karelia and Ostro Bothnia.

tracks

1 Her Laulu
2 Palava Sydan (Burning Heart)
3 Kazvatti Minuo Muamoin (My Mother Raised Me)
4 Kun Poijat Ne Menoo Ameriikkahan (When the Boys Came to America)
5 Pieni Sydan (The Little Heart)
6 Matkustaa (Journey)
7 Meilla Ei Kotia Taalla (We Have No Home Here)
8 Tsiganaizet (Gypsies)
9 Toivo Dreams of Tortola
10 Siks' Oon Me Suruinen (And I'm So Sad)
11 Revontulten Leikki (Northern Lights at Play)
12 Nightbirds
13 Nuoruusmuistoja (Memories of Youth)
14 Mina Kuulin Naisten Laulavan (I Heard Women Singing) Women

notes

Revontuli or "Northern Lights" covers a variety of music from Finland as well as original compositions and instrumental pieces written for the kantele.

Tangos, waltzes, gypsy music blend together with traditional songs from Karelia and Ostra Bothnia, along with tunes for the 5, 10 and 36 string kantele.

Joining Diane on this recording:

Seppo "Paroni" Paakkunainen, Finland's great jazz artist, on tuohihuilu (birch bark flute) and saxophones
Dan Newton, accordion
Jim Price, violin and mandolin
Marc Anderson, percussion
Gordy Johnson, bass
Dean Magraw, guitar
Brian Barnes, guitar
and Arto Järvelä, violin (from Finnish folk duo Pinnin Poijat and fiddle group JPP
Kimmo Pohjonen, accordion, (with Pinnin Poijat)

In addition to traditional Finnish folk songs and tangos, Revontuli includes three of Jarvi's original kantele pieces as well as original melodies written for three Finnish poems.

Jarvi states: "There is something distinct about Finnish music. It is the music of my ancestors. It can be both exotic and pure, electrifying and mesmerizing. It stands in my life as both sunlight and moonlight, and like the kokko, the bonfire, always burning.""

A singer, guitarist, songwriter and kantele (Finnish folk harp) player, Diane Jarvi has been performing jazz and folk music for the past several years at festivals, special events and concerts, both solo and with other musicians. She also appears on Cafe Accordion Orchestra's Dancing on the Moon.

Jarvi, a third generation Finnish-American, studied folk music and kantele at the Sibelius Academy in Helsinki.
Jarvi is also an award-winning poet who has a book of poems, Divining The Landscape.

Diane Jarvi's recordings Foreign Winds and Flying into Blue are currently being heard on radio in Europe, as well as on throughout the U.S.

Reviews:

Dirty Linen

"A Finnish-American singer/songwriter/instrumentalist, living in Minnesota, full of yearnings for the old homeland, could be very solipsistic. Instead, Jarvi makes the yearning into something quite meditative and beautiful, a mix of original and traditional material that works well (as do her forays on the kantele). There's enough of the Finn in her to still acknowledge the Kalevala, and enough American to make it sound commercial without ever getting near James taylor territory. A lovely balence."

St. Paul Pioneer Press

"If you were to take one of those blindfold tests they give in music magazines, you might have a hard timne distinguishing what part of the world produced these arresting, hypnotic sounds. Only those familiar with Finnish folk or that northern nation's language might venture a guess. But they'd probably be wrong, for Diane Jarvi is a Minnesotan whose family has been on this side of the Atlantic for three generations. But so heartfelt are the vocals, so steeped in tradition is the instrumentation that you'd never imagine her American.
Most of us might approach something labeled "Finnish Folk" with some apprehension that the sound will be too foreign to our ears and will fall into the "acquired taste" category. But worry not, for American ears unaccustomed to the exotic will still find a wealth of pleasures here. The style is closer to American folk-rock than you might expect, as it's all based upon acoustic guitar and electric bass. but what transports you to Scandinavia are the gentle dulcimer-like tones of the kantele and mournful moan of a birchbark flute. Throw in some accordion that seems straight out of Parisian cabaret and you have an aural warmth that will appeal to everyone from world beaters to Windham Hill fans.
The star of the show is Jarvi's marvelously versatile voice, alternately soothing and scintillating, but always soulful."
Rob Hubbard

Quotes:

"A singular vocalist [whose] recording of Finnish folk songs, Revontuli, is one of this year's most superb local recordings."
Jim Meyer, Minneapolis Star Tribune

"Diane's voice continues to be exquisitely evocative, and the instrumental support that is provided [on Revontuli] is very imaginative and effective...I think that Diane Jarvi is making a place for herself as an interpreter of songs that range so widely that a category --if one is necessary--does not currently exist...I can only say that at this point in her career, I am glad that she puts her beautiful powers at the service of Finnish music."
Oren Tikkanen, Finnish American Reporter

reviews

Please log in to review this album.

  • I enjoy most the Finnish songs
    author: Heikki Kauppinen

    I only buy CD`s I really like. This goes to that small pile.

email

Please log in to email this artist.