Dantchev: Domain (FI)

Anna Dantchev, a singer, songwriter and Master of Music, has not had the best possible luck, or at least the best timing, with the albums of her group. Say It, the first album released in May 2020, was overshadowed by the COVID-19 pandemic that had just erupted and put paid to an entire summer of gigs. The second album, The Lions We Are, was released in June 2022 and fell in a kind of cultural in-between.

Or perhaps its reception was also affected by images that initially constricted the experience. The first album of the group Dantchev: Domain founded by Anna Dantchev was even selected as the Finnish folk music album of the year in a reader poll of Kansanmusiikki magazine.

However, folk music is rather a far-fetched categorisation for her narrative songs that, understandably, draw on elements of two or even three different musical cultures, as well as jazz and blues. Anna Dantchev (b. 1976) was born and raised in Haapavesi, North Ostrobothnia. Her father is Hristo Dantchev, a distinguished musician and music teacher born in Bulgaria, and one of the founders of Haapavesi Folk Music Festival.

Anna Dantchev’s group released its third album in September 2025, but she was forced to postpone any celebrations for personal reasons. She was already seriously ill while the album was being recorded, and after its release, she did not return to the stage until April 2026 in Helsinki. At that time, more than a year had elapsed since the last performance of Dantchev: Domain.

This is why live performances of pieces from the third album, To Those Who Have Gone, I sing in a Key of D (2025) remain a relatively new experience for the band as well as for audiences. The first performance of this quartet with an exceptional sound – including a tuba and a trombone – at the Tampere Jazz Happening will only be their fourth one after the album’s release.

The previous album of Dantchev: Domain, The Lions We Are, revolved around stories of courage. Even before Dantchev’s illness, gratitude was selected as one of the leading themes, almost as a precognition of how limited life is, and as a way of saying thanks for a life that continues after all.