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Award-winning jazz vocalist and composer Elena Mîndru presents her seventh album devoted to the repertoire of the American Songbook

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The lates publication by SibaRecords is a deeply personal journey through jazz standards, life experience, and reinvention

The digitally released album brings together nine jazz standards reimagined through contemporary arrangements, fearless improvisation, and a deeply personal artistic perspective. Recorded with pianist Artturi Rönkä, bassist Oskari Siirtola, and drummer Anssi Tirkkonen, the album revisits beloved standards such as After You’ve Gone, Mean to Me, Three Little Words, I Cried For You, and A Song for You. The performances move freely between swing, Latin grooves, odd meters, spoken word passages, vocal loops, and contemporary harmonic colors while remaining firmly rooted in
the jazz tradition.

Life experience enrichens the interpretation of classics

While jazz standards have been part of Mîndru’s concert repertoire throughout her career, Second Time Around marks the first time she has dedicated an entire recording project to the American Songbook. The album offered an opportunity to engage directly with the repertoire that shaped generations of jazz singers while simultaneously discovering new dimensions within her own artistry.

At first glance, Second Time Around is an album about jazz standards. At its heart, however, it is about what happens when life gives us a second chance: to love again, to trust again, to rebuild, to rediscover ourselves, and to tell familiar stories from a new perspective.

How do we tell the same story with the same words, yet make it mean something new? That question became the starting point for Mîndru’s artistic journey.

“The lyrics of these songs have remained the same for decades. What has changed is the life experience behind the voice singing them,” says Mîndru. “I don’t feel that I am a different person than I was twenty years ago. But I have lived. I have loved, built a family, pursued an international career, faced difficult choices, experienced successes and disappointments, questioned myself, learned to stand up for my own dignity, and discovered strengths I did not know I had. All of those experiences now live inside these songs.”

Second chorus as a metaphor for growth

Although the project originated in Mîndru’s doctoral research at the Sibelius Academy, the album itself is first and foremost an artistic statement. Her research explores the tradition of the second chorus in jazz singing—a practice in which a vocalist repeats the same lyric while reshaping the melody through variation and improvisation. As the project developed, Mîndru began to see the concept as something
larger than a musical technique.

“The more I explored the second chorus, the more I realized it reflects something deeply human. Throughout our lives, we revisit the same questions, relationships, hopes, and disappointments, yet we never return to them with exactly the same perspective. The second chorus became a metaphor for resilience, growth, and renewal.”

Said about the album

  • “Elena Mîndru and her band have recorded a very interesting project. Her singing and arranging reflect her taste for contemporary pop, employing strong rhythmic grooves and unexpected harmonic progressions that provide a fresh take on standards and originals. She uses scat lines and spoken word sections, adding new colors to each song. The band provides her with crystal clear accompanying and exciting soloing, while her singing is powerful, unique and impressive.” Renowned jazz vocalist and educator Judy Niemack
  • “I very much appreciated Elena’s interpretations of very classic, familiar standards with thoughtful arrangements that made them feel new. I also like the fearlessness Elena sings with—there are many chances being taken vocally, and bold choices being made, and landed.”
  • “This project is meaningful and inspiring.” Danish jazz vocalist and composer Sinne Eeg

Elena Mîndru: Second Time Around

  • SRDG-1035 / EAN: 6430037170454
  • Release date: July 3rd 2026
  • Physical release by EM Records, CD inquiries: contact.emrecords@gmail.com
  • Artists: Elena Mîndru (vocals, arrangements), Artturi Rönkä (piano, arrangements), Oskari Siirtola (double bass), Anssi Tirkkonen (drums)
  • Recorded on August 22.–23 2026 at the Sibelius Academy studios, Helsinki Music Centre
  • Äänitys ja miksaus: Joonas Saikkonen
  • Masterointi: Jaakko Viitalähde / Virtalähde Mastering
  • Kansikuvat: Teemu Mattsson
  • Graafinen suunnittelu: Andrei Budescu

Release concerts

SibaRecords has operated at the Sibelius Academy of the University of the Arts Helsinki since 2009. Its mission is to make the diverse musical wisdom of our community visible and audible. The label features students,  teachers, and researchers who have delved into an exceptionally wide range of artistic and scholarly questions. Read more about SibaRecords