Latvian guitarist and multi-instrumentalist Reinis Jaunais is a restless wanderer who has taken his dextrous acoustic guitar-playing all over Europe, across Asia and to Australia and beyond. He’s a musical magpie, who takes in a myriad of influences from his travels, while using them to craft something that is uniquely his own.
On the self-released Nest, his sixth full-length recording, Jaunais has assembled a cast of fellow Latvian musicians to enrich and develop his compositions, including cellist Erna Daugaviete, drummer Andris Buiķis, upright bass player Jānis Rubiks, trumpet player Harijs Ločmelis andelectronic music producer EIII. Jaunais himself plays modular synthesisers, the melodic tongue drum and a Latvian folk instrument called a kokle – a form of box zither. But the star of the show is of course his guitar playing.
Over the years Jaunais has honed a diverse and modern approach to the acoustic guitar – from his use of fluid tapping producing legato notes, to detailed finger picking and using the body of his instrument percussively. All this he layers up with the aid of his trusty loop pedals. On this record, he combines these varied techniques with a well-considered range of instrumentation to dazzling effect.
Nest is a highly organic album, filled with detailed instrumentally driven pieces that are rich with implication and highly impressionistic in their approach. Many of the track titles are given in both Latvian and English and relate to weather or the natural world.
With Mountain Peaks, Jaunais and his band deliver a layered track with complex shuffling rhythms, rich melody and a conclusion that brings an aspect of contemporary jazz with the warm trumpet playing of Ločmelis.
Elsewhere the sonic implications of the pieces marry closely with their names. Title track Nest is a calming and soothing composition that marries lilting guitar work with the cello of Erna Daugaviete before the subtle and resonant sound of the tongue drum is brought in at the end of the piece.
The tracks Breeze and Rain bring further impressionistic playing, exploring the range and depth of his musicianship to great effect, while closer Sun is an optimistic and bright sounding track worthy of its name, that rounds out the set brilliantly.
Jaunais’ sound has roots in Balkan folk, but he marries this with such a range of elements that draw on everything from western folk traditions and classical music to jazz and beyond – that it can at points feel familiar, while also very much occupying its own space.
Nest is both a soothing sonic balm of an album and a rich set of compositions that explore a range of emotions and draw inspiration from the natural world. The fusion of sounds, styles, techniques and traditions that Jaunais brings together always come off as natural and never forced. This record further develops the playing and composition of the man known for being one of Latvia’s hardest touring musicians. It will be interesting to see where his travels and compositional experiments take him next.
