Laima

Various aerophones and the Turkish rebab in a blend with guitar and modular synths

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Laima

Ella Zirina (Latvia)
guitar, fx

Cengiz Arslanpay (Turkey)
ney, rebab, electronics

Mark Lotz (Germany)
flutes, fx

In 2021, Ella, Mark, and Cengiz came together to form a trio, debuting their original instrumental compositions at the Jazz On The Sofa Festival in November of that year.

Their music offers a multitimbral journey, weaving the sounds of traditional and modern instruments. The bansuri, ney, and rebab blend seamlessly with guitar and modular synths, creating a soundscape that moves between serene melodies, free improvisations, and influences from Baltic and Oriental traditions.

By bridging space and time, their intimate, in-the-moment improvisations unveil the unheard, inviting listeners into a world of discovery.

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Laima is the Latvian Goddess of destiny and faith. Protector goddess of mothers and children. Triple aspect goddess. She is told to have two sisters; Dekla and Karta.

Band Members

Ella Zirina

guitar, fx

Ella Zīriņa is a Latvian jazz guitarist and composer who is currently residing in the Netherlands. Her playing is characterized by melodic improvisations with a penchant for exploring the textures and timbres of the guitar. A colorful and emotional experience for the listener. Ella recently graduated cum laude from the Conservatory of Amsterdam after her studies with Jesse van Ruller, Reinier Baas, Maarten van der Grinten and Martijn van Iterson. She is the band leader of the Ella Zirina Trio, played her music in the past in a quartet setting and participated in the Expression of Art Award 2020 and was selected for the Keep an Eye Jazz Awards 2020 and played in big bands such as Jong Metropole and also shared the stage with musicians such as Pablo Held, Tineke Postma and John Scofield.

Cengiz Arslanpay

ney, rebab, electronics

Cengiz Arslanpay is a multi-instrumentalist, sound designer, music technologist and composer. His music especially stands out in the combination of authentic primal instruments with electronic sounds. With his collection of flutes all over the globe, he travels in different sound worlds. He is mainly specialized in playing the Ney (reed) in combination with the adventurous sounds from his modular synthesizer.

Mark Lotz

piccolo, concert-, alto-, bass-, pvc contra bass flutes, prepared flute, game calls, voice, fx

Improviser, composer, producer in jazz and contemporary music often crossing borders with other cultures. Collaborations spans an arc with film, theater, performance art, visual arts and dance. Worked with many unknown and many famous but equally gifted unique voices in music all around the globe. Subject of international publications, prize-winner, nominated for the Edison and Beyond Magazine prize. Professor for flute at the Utrecht and Rotterdam Conservatories.