Diane Jarvi

Diane Jarvi's music can best be described as poetic cross-cultural jazzy bilingual world folk -- OK, her music is hard to describe. But it's certainly not hard to like. Dubbed the "Minnesota nightingale" by fans in Finland, Jarvi is the star of two Finnish documentary films. She's also an award-winning poet under the name Diane Jarvenpa, with a new volume of poems -- "The Tender, Wild Things" -- just issued by New Rivers Press. Best known for her sensual vocals, Jarvi also plays guitar and various multi-stringed kanteles, or Finnish zithers. Jarvi officially releases her fifth CD, "Wild Gardens," with an all-star supporting cast from the jazz, folk, blues and bluegrass worlds. And the music is as varied as their backgrounds, with detours into the British Isles ("Wild Mountain Thyme"), Tex-Mex cantinas ("You Are My Flower"), and the world of vivid dreams ("This Is Rain"). (Tom Surowicz, Minneapolis Star Tribune)