Svetlana Marinchenko Trio - Letters to My Little Girl (2021)

How well do you know yourself? Are you sensitive to your synapses, fond of your feelings? Have you ever attempted an extended, a profoundly personal journey – to discover the inner YOU?!

Russian-born pianist Svetlana Marinchenko has through her music composed and performed with the utmost grace, dexterity and style, Letters to My Little Girl is a remarkably courageous expedition and constructive expression of such a journey.

Creative activity, such as music, offers a source and outlet for emotional self-expression. It can have a productive, nurturing function that paves the way to a deeper understanding of former, repressed issues. This album might then be regarded as a form of bridge building; from basic but essential childhood structures to fully-formed, skilfully operated and hopefully rational adult associations. These liner notes therefore, will not benefit from an attempt to analyse or deconstruct the music, track by track. The music speaks for itself and is rich in tension and release, peaks and troughs, the traditional and the experimental.

Svetlana: “The protracted path we take during our lives…there is no black and white. I wish these compositions to reflect a way of discovering/recalling a more authentic self, leading to a more profound acceptance of life.”

Letters to My Little Girl, with its well-placed, sensitive and innovative vocal contributions from Mongolian-born Enji Erkhembayar (Billy Hart, Johannes Enders, Paul Kirby)and Swiss-born Fiona Grond (worked/studied with Sheila Jordan, New York Voices) is impressively aided by the influence of distinctive (studio-induced, but always ‘musical’) effects produced by Matthäus von Schlippe. We are also treated to an elevated level of musicianship provided by virtuosi Israeli-born Ofri Nehemya (Avishai Cohen, Shai Maestro) on drums and Slovakian-born Peter Cudek (tutored by Ron Carter) on bass.

Svetlana: “The album is a reflection of my inner personal development. Each composition is a story, a statement, a step. The album is dedicated to my inner child and it’s full of love, support and hope.”

The emotional discovery and emotional acceptance of the truth in the unique history of our childhood can be of impactful significance to emotional stability and well-being in our adulthood. Built on a thrillingly diverse, multi-cultural background, Letters to My Little Girl offers us a musical roadmap to the centre of a solo soul. Welcome aboard! David Fishel, March 2021