Simin Tander

German - Afghan singer and composer Simin Tander is one of the most exciting voices in Jazz today. Sung both in English and Pashto, her warm, tender yet powerful timbre exudes a pull, a heart-opening intensity that is rare indeed. After two highly praised solo albums, she received the „Annual German Record Critics´ Award“ for her ECM album with Norwegian pianist Tord Gustavsen. Simin Tander has performed on leading festivals all over the world, appearing in her own formations and a number of transcultural collaborations.

With her beguiling new project „Unfading“ and a freshly formed quartet, Simin Tander opens a new door in her artistic journey. She allows herself to pursue new directions while also deepening her intriguing musical path. Beside rich songwriting and highly original interpretations, Simin´s unique approach to vocal improvisations remains a trademark of hers. Creating her own language, far away from the usual scat-singing and full of life-enhanced freedom. The result is „hypnotizing (…) highly unconventional“ (*****Concerto), „with a mysteriously dark bandsound“ (****Jazzthetik) and „extraordinary beautiful“ (Norwegian Financial Times).

Simin Tander’s “new quartet” creates a whole new sound that is both transparent and endlessly deep. Oslo- based and Indian violinist Harpreet Bansal elegantly floats through the songs as a second voice, adding a contemporary echoe of ancient classical Indian music with her warm sound and Raga- tinged phrasing. Swedish electric bassist Björn Meyer (ECM recording artist), provides harmonious foundations and glowing atmospheric sounds through his highly original electronic effects. For his part, Berlin-based Swiss drummer Samuel Rohrer (ECM recording artist) displays his uncommonly sensitive and tasteful touch, with downtuned drums adding at times a dry, dark pulse to the music. The lyrics of the album stem from “inspiring women who were and are very strong and self-willed personalities within the scope of their culture and their time”. Texts from female poets in the Pashto language, both contemporary and from the 16th century, are juxtaposed with the poetry of Sylvia Plath, Gabriela Mistral and Tander’s own compositions and words. An intertwined dramatic arc stretching across centuries connecting different creative women - with mature, evocative vocal power. Although the music may verge on melancholy at times, Unfading as a whole conveys an undeniably positive, life-affirming attitude: „In the word ’Unfading’ and the whole album there is so much of my yearning to keep on moving” – for Tander ´Unfading´ is an image and sound of an everlasting river that reveals itself again and again and keeps on flowing.