Elina Duni & Rob Luft

Born into an artistic family in Tirana, Albania, in 1981, Elina Duni made her first steps on the stage as a singer aged five, singing for National Radio and Television. 

In 1992, after the fall of the communist regime, she settled in Geneva,  Switzerland, with her mother, where she started studying classical piano and thereafter discovered jazz. 

She went on to study the jazz programme at the Hochschule der  Künste in Bern. During this time, she formed the Elina Duni Quartet with  Colin Vallon on piano, Patrice Moret on double bass and Norbert  Pfammatter on drums. This represented a return to her musical roots, a  combination of Balkan folk songs and jazz. 

After two albums, “Baresha” (2008) and “Lume Lume” (2010), both on Meta  Records, the quartet went on to release for ECM in 2012, “Matanë Malit”  (Beyond the Mountain) and in 2015, “Dallëndyshe” (Swallow), which were praised by the wider European media for their lightness as well as their subtle manner of exploring Albanian folklore. 

In 2014, Elina Duni released her first album as a singer-songwriter in  Kosovo and Albania, entitled “Muza e Zezë” (The Black Muse). In 2017 Elina  Duni was one of the recipients of the Swiss Music Prize and started to work with the highly acclaimed London guitarist Rob Luft. 

The project entitled “Partir” featuring Elina Duni as a soloist  (accompanying herself on piano, acoustic guitar and percussion), has been released on record in April 2018 on ECM and has received great reviews from the European press. 

In 2020 “Lost Ships” has been released on ECM records featuring Rob Luft,  Fred Thomas and Matthieu Michel.

Elina Duni is joined by guitarist and BBC New Generation Artist Rob Luft,  one of the rising stars of London’s flourishing contemporary jazz scene. Luft’s playing incorporates echoes of West African high-life, Celtic folk and textural minimalism. His joyously original sound finds an ideal counterpart in Elina Duni’s vocals. Together, they take us on a journey through timeless folk songs which still resonate so truly today, as well as playing their co-written original material about contemporary issues facing us all.