A whirlwind dance with Mr. Gibson
Review of Ella Zīriņa’s album «Unraveler»

At the moment when a musician is intertwined with their instrument to the bone or is at least very close friends with it, there is an otherworldly magic present. This is even more pronounced in cases where it happens not in the twilight of a master musician’s career but earlier. Ella Zīriņa exemplifies this moment, as evidenced by her second album, «Unraveler.»
Her first album «Intertwined,» released last year and recorded the year before that, during Ella’s residency celebrating the 50th birthday of the iconic Amsterdam concert hall «Bimhuis» and was released under «Bimhuis Records» with the International Fellow Student Trio of the Amsterdam Conservatory, a string quartet, and the Dutch teacher/saxophonist Tineke Postma. It was a fantastic chamber jazz album, but with her second solo guitar work, «Unraveler,» under the Amsterdam label «Dox Records,» she has taken a very confident step towards asserting herself as a solo artist.
As Elvijs Grafcovs, Ella’s guitar teacher at the Mediņš School, who is best known as the driving force behind the band «Very Cool People,» once said, «A single guitar is complex because, on one hand, it needs to showcase every aspect — recalling melody, harmony, bass, and rhythm, but on the other hand, it should allow both oneself and the listener to enjoy that it really is just one single guitar and it sounds beautiful, without trying to deceive that this is not just about one person and their musical instrument.»
Ella Zīriņa indeed does not try to deceive and audibly enjoys this duality right from the first beats of «Unraveler.» A swirling dance with Mister Gibson in hand starts immediately — in the first two original tracks of the album, intertwined with elements of chamber jazz and seemingly Latin American intonations. Perhaps the latter association arises due to the lightness with which Ella performs her own jazz compositions — simultaneously intricate and relaxed, momentarily hinting that this is not about the smoothly flowing soundscapes traditionally admired by the legendary German label «ECM,» but rather about youthful vigor and sparkling energy.
However, deeper intonations and musical pauses are not missing, demonstrating an understanding of structured compositions at such an early age in her jazz musician career — at 26 years old. As the album progresses, the dance also takes over the acoustic guitar, but it sounds more traditional, more in line with expectations, contrasting with the electric Mister Gibson, although it offers a slightly unexpected change and reveals another dimension of the guitar solo album.
A broader influence on «Unraveler» is introduced with the first of three non-original songs—a collaborative work from the 1960s by the Brazilians Haroldo Lobo and Niltinjo, or Nilton de Souza, called «Tristeza.» With a romantically playful samba melody, it is followed by the soothing interlude «Lullaby,» which leans more towards the aforementioned «ECM» format, yet it doesn’t lack unexpected twists in Ella’s placid swirling signature.
A tribute of seven minutes is also paid to the American pianist Billy Strayhorn in his 1960s creation in Paris with «A Flower Is a Lovesome Thing» (which, by the way, can also be found in Ella’s first album), placing the album in the realm of jazz classics and showcasing Ella’s clear interest in folk music in various interpretations of the well-known Scottish/American folk song «Black Is the Colour (Of My True Love’s Hair)» arrangement, where Ella, unlike her experienced guitar-playing colleagues like Mary Halvorson and Bill Frisell, shows with a wide reverberation and at times almost bluesy modulation a deep connection with herself. Still instrumental because, unlike the debut album, the vocal microphone remains silent.
Returning to a more distinctive swirling signature, Ella revisits in the final two tracks of «Unraveler» — «Riff» and the slightly avant-garde «Improvisation,» delving into widely resonant, mutually communicating phrases and ascending to the chair by the sea, as shown in the album’s design.
The album’s sonorous design is calm and harmonious, largely thanks to the Italian sound engineer Alessandro Marcieri. Marcieri recorded this work at the renowned Wisseloord studio in Hilversum, the Netherlands, which is known for the creative activity of various world-renowned stars.
«Unraveler» is a delicate, surprisingly crafted work of a solo guitarist that will surely make any music lover sway in their chair and eagerly await what other melodic jazz guitar treasures Ella Zīriņa will uncover and which horizons she will peer at next, likely from an even higher viewpoint than the chair.