Talinka consists of four British musicians with backgrounds in jazz and diverse music. Diverse is the key word. Talinka isn’t a jazz combo but that tradition provides an accent—perhaps a way of thinking?—to much of their music.
While lushly melodic, the title track suggests 1920s Kurt Weill with its carnival oompah rhythm and wheezy sax. Saxophonist Gilad Atzmon breaths the angular abstraction of post-‘50s jazz into “If I Should Lose You”; klezmer can be heard in the mix of “Perdita.” Along with original compositions, Talinka offers versions of British folk songs in fresh arrangements (“Greensleeves,” ‘Scarborough Fair”) and a rendition of Frank Sinatra’s “I’m a Fool to Want You” that captures the hurt yearning. Rainbow Over Kolonaki is an enchanting collection.
