MAIMU JÕGEDA

Album Reviews

Nordic Reflections (2025)

Tony Gillam writes in Songlines (Songlines Magazine, May 2025 (Issue #210): 

Maimu Jõgeda is an Estonian now living in Helsinki, and Nordic reflections is her third album. It features nine original pieces composed during her studies and travels in Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway as well as two Estonian folk songs ‘Õhtuvaikuse jõuab’ and ‘Joogilaul’. A graduate of Finland’s Sibelius Academy (where the album was recorded), Jõgeda is a versatile and sensitive player of the free bass accordion. Trained in classical music and jazz before coming to folk, she is able to conjure a wide range of moods and sounds with nothing more than her accordion and occasional use of stomp-box and singing. Though steeped in Estonian and Nordic folk music, there are occasional flashes of jazz sensibility and even of ambient music, making Nordic reflections are varied and satisfying experience.

Michael Sommer in a Danish magazine Rootszone.dk: 
"With such an instrument, the music can become magical and almost supernatural. This is enhanced by the fact that Jõgeda’s compositions appear freely imaginative with long series of dissonances – which are otherwise normally only heard in fairly complex jazz music." 
"Jõgeda’s music is thus a reflective collection of imperfect fragments of landscapes, dances, and traditions from the Nordic countries. It even seems to apply to us as well, that life’s small cracks and imperfections make us whole human beings … more beautiful and more valuable!"

Ants Johanson wrote a review of "Nordic Reflections" for Estonian music magazine Muusika. Here is a translated version of it:
"“It is high time to stop dismissing accordion jokes and surprised reactions - even from players themselves - that such a versatile instrument, rich in endless colors, is still not always taken seriously. Maimu Jõgeda’s third album Nordic Reflections shows once again that the accordion, this ‘pocket orchestra,’ offers limitless possibilities to bring musical fantasies to life. Listening to the album, one can hear references to Scandinavian dance rhythms, a reflection of Maimu’s studies and experiences in Nordic folk music. But what is charming is that these are not mere copies of Nordic tunes - they are deeply personal reflections, painted with soundscapes of light and shadow from that region. Most heartfelt (for the reviewer) is the track Reaching Home. One thing that lingers from Jõgeda’s playing is the immense dynamic range, especially the quiet passages, like in Kuma, where silence and pauses are explored boldly. Beyond listening to the album, one must experience a live Maimu Jõgeda concert - every nuance, every tiny accordion pull and subtle key change is truly captivating. Jõgeda paints music, mostly with a fine brush, but using a rainbow of colors and shades. Close your eyes and see her music!”

Lira folk music magazine (SWE), available now here. The Swedish folk music magazine Lira also wrote a beautiful review, featured in their summer issue. Here's a translated excerpt from the review by a fellow graduate of the Nordic Master in Folk Music master’s degree, Ronja Grafström:

“With the accordion as her primary voice, Maimu Jõgeda draws the listener into a strange, timeless, and gentle folk soundscape in her solo album Nordic Reflections.”

“The music explores the search, questioning, and discovery of ‘home’ – both as a physical place and an inner state of mind.”

“The third and eleventh tracks, traditional Estonian melodies, fit beautifully into the album’s resonant and longing atmosphere.”

“Maimu’s singing and use of stompbox add richness, depth, and resonance to the album as a whole.”

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The one about... (2020)

Mick Tems Folk Wales: "Maimu has an incredible talent for inviting audiences in and making them feel quite home as she weaves her peaceful yet powerful magic. She writes and performs entirely alone, letting her accordion speak for itself. // Her compositions are pebble-dashed with luscious, fleeting dissonant chords which catch the delighted listener unaware.// She captures her own refreshing, exhilarating style which is very reminiscent of her rural upbringing; it’s flowing with expression and passion, gutsy but graceful, soothing and rampantly pretty. It’s Maimu…"

Jonas Linge Lira Musikmagasin: "Jõgedas egna kompositioner består av fina uttrycksfulla melodier, ibland nästan sekventiella och upprepande, men som ger lyssnaren små rika upplevelser."

Dani Heyvaert Rootstime: "Eén instrument slechts en toch opent de artieste een heel eigen wereld en vertelt ze een verhaal waar je als luisteraar in meegezogen wordt, of je dat nu wil of niet. Dit is niet meteen de ultra-vingervlugge accordeonmuziek, die je wel eens vaker te horen krijgt. Nee, dit is eerder ingetogen folky versie met klassieke invloeden en heel af en toe een jazz-accentje: dit is mijmermuziek op bijzonder hoog niveau."

Allan Wilkinson Northern Sky Magazine: "The piano accordion can be an expressive instrument in its own right when in the correct hands and can span a broad canvas in terms of musical arrangement, away from its familiar use as an accompanying instrument. Maimu Jõgeda is such a musician, whose inventiveness and flair for the instrument’s possibilities is explored in these dozen pieces.  /.../  If music is made to take the listener somewhere else, somewhere enchanting and ethereal, then the forests of Southern Estonia are as good a place to start as any."

Nils Thorlund Rootszone: "Jõgedas blandede musikalske baggrund præger både hendes spil og kompositioner. Hun sammensætter relativt komplicerede melodilinjer uden folkemusikkens umiddelbare lethed, og hun udfører stykkerne stramt og disciplineret. Anvendelsen af ostinatlignende passager præger kompositionerne mere end umiddelbart iørefaldende melodier."

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Pühendus (2017)

fRoots: “Estonian piano-accordeonist plays her own compositions with a reflective feel. While she studies folk music at the Estonian Academy, they don’t show particularly Baltic roots, and are more part of a wider European folk-influenced music world.”

Maria-Kaisa Jurva Lira magazine: “Melodierna präglas starkt av folkmusik blandade med lite jazz och en droppe klassiskt. Jõgedas egna kompositioner är rakt igenom instrumentala. Hon spelar solo sitt enda instrument – fingerfärdigt, lätt och ledigt vilket sätter fantasin, minnen och tankarna i rullning. Lyssnaren rycks med, musiken drabbar direkt.

Allan Wilkinson Northern Sky Magazine: “There are few better ways to spend thirty-three minutes than in the company of Maimu Jõgeda's captivating accordion. On PÜHENDUS, the young musician invites us to explore the landscapes of her native Estonia via twelve original instrumentals, all played with palpable emotion and dexterity on a single instrument, with nods towards Estonian folklore.”

Mick Tems Folk Wales: “Maimu’s compositions instil a haunting, otherworldly effect, and her solitary lazily-drifting instrument fascinates and mesmerises. This is a peaceful, heart-warming album; file under Essential Music For The Long Road, and a listen to her soothing sounds should make the miles and the hours fly by.”

Global Music Magazine: "Ihre Musik ist eine behutsame Weiterentwicklung der Tradition, wie wir finden. Die harmonischen Bewegungen sind wunderschön. Das Spiel Maimu Jõgedas ist außerordentlich ausgewogen, der Klang warm und sehnsuchtsvoll. Hier erfreut insbesondere, dass die Aufnahmen sehr sauber und unverfälscht sind." 

Kristel Laas ajakiri Muusika: the most important music magazine in Estonia: "Maimu muusikast kostub põhjamaist kargust, positiivset melanhoolsust, helgust ja õhulisust, mis on kokku seotud jazziliku harmoonia, pärimuslike motiivide või popmuusikale omaste elementidega."

Andres Laiapea kirjutab plaadist “Pühendus”: "Kui mõnikord võib õigustatult tõdeda, et kena pakend varjab sisu puudumist, siis antud juhul seda väita ei saa. „Pühenduse” puhul on need omavahel kenasti kooskõlas. Kõige paremini sobibki seda albumit iseloomustama sõna „harmoonia”."  

A mention of my duo with Kaari, Jazzkaar 2017 (by Martin Longley):  https://www.allaboutjazz.com/jazzkaar-2017-steve-gadd-by-martin-longley.php