Anett Tamm and the David Chevallier Trio At the Vuotalo Cultural Center

David Chevallier and Anett Tamm
Vuotalo Cultural Center
Borders Tour
Helsinki, Finland
November 19, 2024

The concert in the eastern suburb of Helsinki marked the first of 24 concerts spread over far-flung cities in Finland and Estonia in November and December, 2024, seeing the artists trek through a very Scandinavian blizzard to make the first date on time. The ensemble had started this tour in France, under the title Borders, but after a short series of concerts in 2021 this was its first major exposure abroad. In fact their first Finnish audience was an afternoon workshop in a local school, which maybe helped them focus on their typically rather reserved Finnish audiences ahead.

As it was, the program received a very warm response despite the weather, the rather distant location and the foreignness of the languages used. Estonian is maybe the language closest related to Finnish, but is still difficult for an untutored ear to understand, which made it a blessing that about half the songs were in English. Not only is it the language of international business, but for musicians too, it is a unifying factor, in this case bringing together the Estonian singer Anett Tamm and the French trio led by guitarist David Chevallier.

Their previous project in 2021 had been a short series of songs written by Canadian songwriter Kyrie Kristmanson, set to music by Chevallier. Inspired by this project, Tamm and Chevalier set about creating their own texts and arrangements without outside help, other than that of his long-standing trio, comprising double bassist Sébastien Boisseau and drummer Christophe Lavergne. The result was a set of nine songs with all the lyrics composed and sung by Tamm in English and Estonian, all investigating aspects of separation and division. The arrangements highlighted both the range and dexterity of her voice and guitar, and the versatility of Chevallier's composition—not to mention the virtuosity of his playing.

Chevallier has a long pedigree in France through his guitar work with many free jazz luminaries like Laurent Dehors and Patrice Caratini, but also through his compositional work which has included his use of a medieval 'long lute,' the theorbo. Tamm too, despite her relative youth, has a breadth of experience working with virtuoso Estonian musicians like the Alpha Collective, bringing vocal styles reminiscent of Björk or even Joni Mitchell, to compliment the drama and variety of the trio. The music was tight, adventurous and finely honed, with Tamm's more simple guitar work a foil for Chevallier's dexterous intricacy, and her voice, while primarily sotto voce, rising to full forte in the last song of the series, "Sediment." This ensemble has the potential to cross many more borders than just those of northern Europe.

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