Tummaa means ‘darkness’, and Craig Armstrong’s second work with innovative Finnish composer Sasu Ripatti – recording for the Leaf Label as Vladislav Delay – draws on the moods elicited by long, northern winters.
On Tummaa (2009), Ripatti turns back from his more futuristic output for labels such as Mille Plateaux and BPitch Control to rediscover the multi-layered forms of jazz percussion that he was trained in. He then brings in Armstrong on simple, pure piano, as well as Argentine instrumentalist Lucio Capece on clarinet and saxophone.
The result is a wonderfully rich suite of music that is at once hypnotic and absorbing.
