Patina

„(...) The group Patina – a collaboration between Biruta Ozolina, a singer and professional pianist educated in the genre of ethnographic music, and several jazz musicians – has been creating their own unique brand of music for several years now. After the concerts, John Edward Hasse, a music historian and Curator of American Music at the Smithsonian Institute, in Washington, D.C.said: I learned how strong Latvian vocal traditions are, and heard several outstanding singers: (...)Biruta Ozolina of the group Patina.
Anne Errna, organizer of the Estonian festival jazzKarr, added: (...) Viktor Ritov is an outstanding jazz pianist.
Peter Schulze, director of the festival Berlin Jazz, recalled: The most interesting thing I discovered was your vocal jazz. Most of your groups play and sing well, yet musicians cannot attract attention in international festivals until they found their own sound, or while they continue to perform jazz standarts heard everywhere in the world. But the group PATINA, with its roots in folklore, was a breath of fresh air(...).

- Baltic Outlook Aug./Sept. 2006

„This is one of those albums that sneaks up on rather than grabbing you by the throut. Biruta Ozolina’s combination of vocals and keyboards begs the comparison, so one might as well start by calling her the Latvian Enya by way of getting a grip on her music. It’s easy to put this on as background music, but Sirdsgriezi is more than that.(...) This music entices the listener into another realm and its enchantment is difficult to shake off.”

- Rambles 08.11. 2003.

Over the past several decades, Latvia have had a gradual re-awakening of its folk traditions, to go along with its increased freedom in a variety of spheres. This revival of interest in older musical expressions has resulted in a small (but slowly expanding) recording industry that focuses on Latvian traditional music. Biruta Ozolina has been a part of this revival, serving as a member of various traditional bands in Latvia throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Ozolina comes from a long line of singers. Her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother all appear in Latvia's folklore archives. On this release, she sings and accompanies herself on the Latvian national instrument, the kokle (a relative of the zither-like instruments found throughout many neighbouring regions).
Recorded over a 12-year span, the 14 songs on Bolta Eimu are largely from Ozolina's native area, Latgale. Many of the songs were chosen from manuscripts compiled in the late 1800s. Ozolina is known for her ability to sing in an open and direct way, and on this recording her vocals are marked by a quiet clarity and a purity of tone. At times, her singing is playful, but it is usually introspective and even reverent. She plays the kokle both by picking as well as strumming, to fit the song. In her skillful hands, the kokle sounds like a harp, a zither and an autoharp in various enticing combinations.




- Roots World