Talinka is a quartet that Tali Atzmon, singer, songwriter and actress, has just formed. Israeli born but London based Tali is the wife of multi-instrumentalist, composer, band-leader author and political activist Gilad Atzmon, a well known and (mostly) well loved figure on the UK music scene. Tali has been a backing singer on many Gilad’s albums, but Talinka is her first musical project as an artist. The band also features Tali on vocals, Gilad on soprano sax, accordion, and bass clarinet, and Yaron on double bass. Yaron is a long-term associate of Gilad and a member Gilad’s regular working band, the Orient House Ensemble. Although the inclusion of Yaron and Gilad is predictable, Tali’s choice to complete Talinka’s line-up is not. Jenny Bliss Bennett, a musician closely associated with baroque musical styles, is Jenny Bliss Bennett. She is a specialist in the viola de gamba and also contributes to baroque violin, flute, and backing vocals. The viola da gamba, a six-stringed, fretted instrument that is somewhere between a regular cello and a viola, is six-stringed. You can either bow or pluck it and strum it like a guitar. Bliss Bennett can switch between the two techniques, and plays both a rhythmic and melodic part in the creation of the music. From www.thejazzmann.com
