The Cosmologies album was released on 27 January, 2021. In the album, many themes of my personal and artistic life came together.
In the album, I collaborated with different artists from different countries. The artists in the album, I had met in different countries over the many years working in music. Meetings with those artists have been meaningful. I wanted to capture this connection in music. In my experience, the communication between duos is something unique and precious. In the album, I wanted to focus on different duo combinations. In the end, more than two musicians ended up playing in some of the songs enlivening the musical world.
Music was recorded in living rooms and recording studios across four different countries, Finland, Senegal, Denmark, and Mali. West Africa is strongly presented in the album because most of the artists come from Senegal, Mali or Gambia.
One of the carrying themes in the lyrics is parenthood and its strong emotional experiences. The album also became a break-up album in a way, although I didn’t understand that until years after its release.The album is a diary, a statement, and a portfolio all at the same time. Rough and honest stories combined with surprising and beautiful arrangements bring you inside my musical cosmology.
Featuring Artists
Malian Tuareg guitarist, singer and songwriter Ahmed ag Kaedy is the leader of the group Amanar de Kidal. He is originally from Kidal, North Mali. He released his solo album Akaline Kidal in 2018 (Sahel sounds). Tuareg music is often referred to as ”Desert Blues”. Ahmed is one of the main characters in the 2016 big screen documentary ”Mali Blues”.
Senegalese percussionist Yatma Thiam is the son of Senegal’s most celebrated tama players Assane Thiam who plays with Youssou Ndour. The Thiam family are traditionally tama players, and Yatma continues this long lasting griot tradition. Yatma himself plays tama with Viviane Chidid (former Ndour) who is one of the most famous Senegalese pop divas today. Yatma is an uncle to my children, and has been my instructor to Senegalese music life.
Award winning Gambian kora player Dawda Jobarteh was born into a famous musical dynasty in Gambia. Dawda is the grandson of Alhaji Bai Konté and the son of Amadou Bansang Jobarteh. He has absorbed a range of influences that cover a whole gamut of musical styles. He is one of the most interesting kora players of his time. Beside his solo project, Dawda is also known for Moussa Diallo trio and duo Dawda Jobarteh and Stefan Pasborg. He is currently based in Denmark.
Finnish drummer Mikko Hassinen has created an extensive career as a jazz drummer, leading bands and collaborating with prominent performers. He has written music for his own ensembles and for the UMO Jazz Orchestra, with which he has also played drums and conducted concerts. In 2009, he won the Esko Linnavalli Composition Competition with his piece Karhunvartija, and in 2015 he received the Teosto Prize for his works on the album Elektro GT.
Danish singer, violinist, percussionist and dancer Eliza Boye Mouritsen is specialised in West African dance and music. Since 2016 she has been traveling to Senegal, Guinea, Mali, Tanzania, Cuba, USA, England and Sweden to study West African dance and music. She works at the artistic company called Batteria Bou Bess. The company performed the dance concert Letting Loose in Aarhus, Denmark in 2018 which she choreographed.
Jenni Hanikka is a Finnish flutist and singer based in Denmark. She is a versatile musician specialising in Finnish, Asian and Malian traditional flutes. She is a leading member of the multicultural The Bloody Rooster Band and A fo!, an all female orchestra. She also plays in Duo Kuosikulma and experiments in musical improvisation with different artistic projects.
Reviews
Album cover designed by Karoliina Halsti-Ndiaye.
”– Yet Smolander here sounds like a mature artist who knows very well what she wants, and who knows how to perfectly dose the different nuances of her voice and instrument. Characteristic for her artistry is how she controls and accurately plays off one of her trump cards on this album, the inspired interplay with a number of top musicians from Mali and Senegal, among others. The African element provides the necessary color and dynamism, but Smolander clearly keeps control and lets every note land where it sparkles most fervently. – With Cosmologies, Smolander shows a strong and personal artistic face.” Ronald Veerman, MixedWorldMusic.com, 12.4.2021, https://urly.fi/20uq
”The greatest achievement of Cosmologies is precisely the bringing of cultures together and the new musical features created by the ‘lucky accidents’ it causes. In them, northern drumming can face West African players on an equal footing, leaving room for the voices of other corners of the world.” Mika Roth, desibeli.com, 27.1.2021, https://urly.fi/1Vv0
”The debut album of kantele player and singer-songwriter Marjo Smolander is an interesting combination of different musical collaborations. The connecting thought is her singing and her personal songs, and you can feel musical ingredients both from her home region Carelia (the vocals sounding almost Värttinä-like) and from Africa, especially Mali and Senegal, where she has studied at several occasions.” Tove Djupsjöbacka, Finnish Music Quarterly, 5.2.2021, https://urly.fi/1VuY
”Music talks, it comforts, it communicates, it nourishes, and it does not care about boundaries or cultural differences. Marjo Smolander made an album that really warmed me up. A nice and hopeful album in difficult times. An absolute must.” Holly Moors, Moors Magazine, 14.12.2020, https://urly.fi/1VuZ
”Cosmologies connect both distant cultures and temporal layers. The Värttinä like Finnish traditional sound does not stay behind for the West African sound, but is the combining element of the record. Occasionally, the rhyme that changes from song to speech transforms from ancient spells to seamlessly reach the styles of modern rap lyrics. This folk music or the music of people’s has not collected dust, and the record has been made with open, wide eyes.– Great performance. ” Ari Vanha-Majamaa, Riffi 24.02.2021, https://urly.fi/1WPR
Metadata for album
Lyrics: