Four musicians from four different countries who have collaborated in a variety of configurations over the past ten years – Jelena Ciric (Serbia/Canada), Snorri Hallgrímsson (Iceland), Cécile Lacharme (France) and Oliver Patrice Weder (Switzerland) – all came together for the first time in the spring of 2023 on the site of an old shoe factory in the mountains of Mallorca to create something special. The idea was to capture a moment in time, a musical analog to a photograph or a still-life painting in the form of a live performances over the course of four days.
If that location sounds familiar, it is the place where Weder took up residence after years of traveling around the globe and made the focus of his place-inspired album The Shoe Factory which premiered here on the blog in January of last year. Nestled in the Serra de Tramuntana range that forms Mallorca’s northern backbone, it provided a cozy setting for these four talented artists to improvise while the tape rolled and captured the music we hear on a newly released EP aptly titled Tramuntana Tapes I.
The album is a pleasant reminder that improvisation does not always demand showmanship or grandstanding. What we have here is a group of kindred spirits who clearly enjoy being with each other and lingering in the beautiful moments they are able to patiently create.
As it turns out, the cameras were rolling as well and so here for you to enjoy is a video premiere of the band performing the EP’s mesmerizing lead off track “A Little Longer”.
Each artist came into this project with no expectations of what the outcome would be – they were there to enjoy each other’s company and the process of playing and improvising together, which can be felt in the music.
Moderna Records
Links: Listen/Buy | Jelena Ćirić | Snorri Hallgrímsson | Cécile Lacharme | Oliver Patrice Weder
