Elina Duni

{{short description|Albanian jazz singer and composer|bot=PearBOT 5}}

File:Elina Duni & Rob Luft 11.jpg

File:Elina Duni playing the tambourine during a concert in Biel, Switzerland.jpg

Elina Duni (born 10 March 1981, Tirana, Albania) is a Swiss-Albanian jazz singer and composer. She left Albania at the age of ten to live and study in Geneva, Switzerland.{{cite web|url=http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/multimedia/jazz-as-a-cultural-bridge/36007008 |title=Jazz as a cultural bridge |first=Michele|last=Andina|website=Swissinfo.ch|accessdate=29 May 2018}} She went on to study singing, composition, and teaching at the University of the Arts Bern,{{cite web |last=Jurek |first=Thom |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/elina-duni-mn0002106625/biography |title=Elina Duni |website=AllMusic |access-date=23 February 2021}} but from 2004 onward, Albanian folk music became a primary influence. In 2004, she formed a quartet under her own name with Swiss jazz pianist Colin Vallon, bassist Patrice Moret, and drummer Norbert Pfammatter. In a review, John Fordham concluded that "This quartet definitely sounds like rising star material for ECM."{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/dec/20/elina-duni-quartet-review |title=Elina Duni Quartet – review |first=John |last=Fordham|date=20 December 2012|newspaper=The Guardian|accessdate=29 May 2018}}

After two albums—Baresha (2008) and Lume Lume (2010)—on Meta Records, the quartet went on to record for ECM in 2012, releasing Matanë Malit (Beyond the Mountain), followed by Dallëndyshe (Swallow) in 2015. In 2014, she released her first album as a singer-songwriter in Kosovo and Albania, titled Muza e Zezë (The Black Muse). In 2017, she was nominated for the annual Swiss Music Prize, and in 2018, she released the album Partir, a solo project in which she accompanies herself on piano, acoustic guitar, and percussion. The album features traditional folk songs from across the globe, sung in nine different languages.{{cite web |title=Partir: Elina Duni |url=https://www.ecmrecords.com/shop/1516191267/partir-elina-duni |website=ECM Records |access-date=23 February 2021}}{{cite magazine |last=Bouchard |first=Fred |date=July 2018 |title=Elina Duni: Partir |magazine=Down Beat |volume=85 |issue=7 |page=65}}

Duni lives in Zurich, Switzerland, and collaborates with British guitarist Rob Luft, with whom she has released two albums on ECM Records. The 2020 album Lost Ships comprises six Duni/Luft originals and six interpretations. The supporting musicians include Matthieu Michel on flugelhorn and multi-instrumentalist Fred Thomas on piano and percussion.{{Cite web |last=Arnett |first=John |date=2020-11-23 |title=Elina Duni, Rob Luft – 'Lost Ships' Review |url=https://londonjazznews.com/2020/11/23/elina-duni-rob-luft-lost-ships/ |access-date=2021-03-12 |website=londonjazznews.com}} Their second collaborative album, A Time to Remember, was named Jazz Album of the Month by The Guardian, with John Fordham describing it as a sonically "delicate yet diamond bright" listening experience.{{Cite news |last=Fordham |first=John |date=2023-07-14 |title=Elina Duni: A Time to Remember review – a unique voice in jazz |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/jul/14/elina-duni-a-time-to-remember-review-a-unique-voice-in-jazz |access-date=2024-04-22 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}