With Lost Ships, Albanian-Swiss jazz singer Elina Duni presents her new ensemble together with Rob Luft, guitar, who can be heard for the first time under the ECM label, which also includes Fred Thomas, piano and drums, and Matthieu Michel, flugelhorn. The reason for the fact that the singer is not named alone, but together with the guitarist on the album as the solo heads of the ensemble, could be that the twenty-nine-year-old Rob Luft is treated as a high-flyer of his instrument and has already recorded significant awards, which should certainly be sales-promoting for Lost Ships. Apart from that Rob Luft contributes decisively to the sound of the album. However, the other members of the band can also claim this for themselves. And so much is already betrayed: Lost Ships proves to be an extremely successful joint work of all band members, who have succeeded in creating a new sound.

Six of the twelve songs were written by the two soloists. For this they have drawn on the folk traditions of various countries, especially of the European south, which is also manifested in the fact that the songs are based not only on the English language, but also on the Italian and Albanian languages, with their already different characteristic style. The remaining six songs are the songs of pop singing greats such as Frank Sinatra and Charles Aznavour.

"Bella Ci Dormi" is a traditional southern Italian ballad, with Elina Duni vocally surfing on airy piano and guitar accompaniment her obviously carefully trained, clear-toned voice mapping the sultry heat of the countryside almost palpably perfectly. The following song "Brighton", smoothly realized by the singer and finely structured by the drums, lives to a not inconsiderable extent from the colorful, elegant playing of the flugelhorn. Sinatra's "I'm a Fool to Want You" proves to be the highlight of the songs of the album, rich in mood and playing technique, which Elina Duni intones only discreetly accompanied by the guitar, followed by the flugelhorn merging with her voice and finally a contribution of the cymbal, which brings the mood of the song to the point.

The songs "Kur më del në derë" and "N'at Zaman", composed in Albanian tradition, with their typical South Balkan time signatures, form a clear contrast to the other songs on the album, which are more Western in time signature. The title track, "Lost Ships," has a distinctly oceanic quality thanks to swelling and waning guitar accompaniment and broken piano chords that put Elina Duni's pure, no-frills vocal delivery in the best possible light.

Lost Ships, that is a cohesive joint work of all musicians of the Duni/Luft band, with the heartfelt, clear voice of Elina Duni, the airy playing of the guitarist Rob Luft and not least thanks to the virtuously played flugelhorn of Matthieu Michel sound colorfully staged, from song to song convincingly realized, in expression essentially relaxing music. This is joined by a successful digital recording technique that presents the action of the musicians on the download in all clarity.

Elina Duni, voice
Rob Luft, guitar
Fred Thomas, piano, drums
Matthieu Michel, flugelhorn