We are delighted to include the Blanott catalog from Tomas Einarsson.
The Icelandic bass player/composer Tómas R. Einarsson (1953) studied with classical bass players in Reykjavik and in Copenhagen 1980-84 and has since been one of the most active jazz musicians in Iceland, performing mainly with his own groups, as well as visiting soloists (a.o. the late Chet Baker and Kenny Drew).
He has recorded 13 records with his own music and performed at several European jazz festivals, The Kongsberg Jazz Festival, Berliner JazzTage and the Glasgow Jazz Festival, to name a few, and in 2006 his Latin group performed both at Moscow´s main jazz venue, Le Club, as well as in the historical Casa de la Amistad in Havana.
His first Latin jazz record was Kúbanska, recorded in 2002. American critics had praise for the music: “It´s a funny thing, all of this Latin Jazz coming from such remote places. But when it´s played that well, who cares?” (C. Michael Bailey: All About Jazz). In 2003 he went to Cuba to record the album Havana, which received two prizes at the Icelandic Music Awards. Einarsson´s next Latin release was Romm Tomm Tomm, recorded in 2006 in Reykjavik and in Havana´s EGREM studios, with 14 musicians. It was welcomed in Iceland by both critics and record-buyers; the Cuban critic Ricardo Alonso Venereo praised the energy and the supreme skill of the musicians (El Habanero 21/11 2006) and Peter Watrous, a critic of jazz and Latin music in the New York Times, called it “a beautiful, weird hybrid out of the Cuban diaspora.” (Descarga.com 6/2 2007)
Two of Einarsson’s tunes appear on the compilations DJ El Chino’s Solar Latin Club Vol. 1, and Putumayo Presents Latin Jazz, where Einarsson is the only European included, in a company of people like Tito Puente, Machito and Ray Barretto.
A remix album of Einarsson´s Latin music was released under the title RommTommTechno. The participants were from Iceland, Britain, Germany and the US and include Moonbotica, Mark Brydon (Moloko), Matthías MD Hemstock, Tom Pooks, Hólmar Filippsson, Namito, Thor, DJ Margeir and people from the Icelandic bands GusGus and Trabant.
More recent albums include Live! and Trúnú, both available via the link belowl.
Click for the Blanott catalog of titles.
