CÆCILLE NORBY & LARS DANIELSSON - Just The Two Of Us
Act Records 9732-2
Cæcille Norby (vocals & percussion) Lars Danielsson ( bass, cello, guitar and miramba)
Emerging some years ago from the rock band Front Line, Caecille Norby has now become the pre-eminent jazz vocalist in Denmark. She is also the first European female artist to be signed by Blue Note Records, where to date she has made four albums under her own name. Success in the USA has also come her way, performing with the likes of Chick Corea and Mike Stern.
Her partner Lars Danielson is one of the most in demand bass players in contemporary jazz with seventeen albums to his name including recordings with Charles Lloyd, Dave Liebman, The Brecker Brothers and John Abercrombie. His work in an all European trio with Bobo Stenson and Jon Christenson is legendary.
The pair are currently on tour promoting this, their first album together as a duo. Being partners both in life and music there is an obvious close bond between Caecille and Lars that comes through in this self produced recording. Lars describes the band as "You And Me And Silence" to reflect the minimalist nature of their approach.
From the very beginning of track one, the classic "Both Sides Now" by Joni Mitchell the first thing that strikes you is the powerful resonance of the bass. The vocal style, even at the slow tempo chosen for this number has both a velvet texture and is full of strength. The phrasing is very personal and remains that way throughout the album.
The pair are fast becoming profound lyric writers and the following four titles illustrate this well. "Double Dance" has a love theme where the vocal is mirrored by the interweaving bass line, "Liberetto" has a soft approach, mirroring the beauty of the earth, whilst "Sad Sunday" and "Cherry Tree" show both romance and suffering, the latter highlighting Lars emerging skills on acoustic guitar.
Caecille has always looked upon Abbey Lincoln as her inspiration and here she deals in her own personal way with the heart felt lyrics on "And It's Supposed To Be Love", a track that includes background vocals plus the cello and marimba of her partner, plus "Wholly Earth" where she plays several percussion instruments over African style chanting. The tempo moves up a gear on the blues tinged "Wild JuJu Child" where there is an almost desperate and pleading quality to the delivery. The classically inspired "Toccata" has words of great charm, sung over a gentle guitar accompaniment with echoes of Karen Krog's earlier works. The haunting " Wonderous Story" by Carl Nielsen tackles scriptural subjects over the enchanting sound of thumb piano and strong bass lines.
Discrete electronics form the background for "Saraband" where the bass solo is no less than magnificent, before the penultimate offering "Ghost Lullaby" deals with good and evil in equal measure.
The album ends as it began with one of the all time great songs, Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah". This time the approach is ethereal, bringing together both lyrics and wordless vocals in slow tempo against the background of the cello and pulsating bass. There have been many superb performances of this masterwork down the years, this version standing among the best.
In summary this is an album of sophisticated contemporary European jazz delivered brilliantly by two masters of the art.
Reviewed By Jim Burlong
Act Records 9732-2
Cæcille Norby (vocals & percussion) Lars Danielsson ( bass, cello, guitar and miramba)
Emerging some years ago from the rock band Front Line, Caecille Norby has now become the pre-eminent jazz vocalist in Denmark. She is also the first European female artist to be signed by Blue Note Records, where to date she has made four albums under her own name. Success in the USA has also come her way, performing with the likes of Chick Corea and Mike Stern.
Her partner Lars Danielson is one of the most in demand bass players in contemporary jazz with seventeen albums to his name including recordings with Charles Lloyd, Dave Liebman, The Brecker Brothers and John Abercrombie. His work in an all European trio with Bobo Stenson and Jon Christenson is legendary.
The pair are currently on tour promoting this, their first album together as a duo. Being partners both in life and music there is an obvious close bond between Caecille and Lars that comes through in this self produced recording. Lars describes the band as "You And Me And Silence" to reflect the minimalist nature of their approach.
From the very beginning of track one, the classic "Both Sides Now" by Joni Mitchell the first thing that strikes you is the powerful resonance of the bass. The vocal style, even at the slow tempo chosen for this number has both a velvet texture and is full of strength. The phrasing is very personal and remains that way throughout the album.
The pair are fast becoming profound lyric writers and the following four titles illustrate this well. "Double Dance" has a love theme where the vocal is mirrored by the interweaving bass line, "Liberetto" has a soft approach, mirroring the beauty of the earth, whilst "Sad Sunday" and "Cherry Tree" show both romance and suffering, the latter highlighting Lars emerging skills on acoustic guitar.
Caecille has always looked upon Abbey Lincoln as her inspiration and here she deals in her own personal way with the heart felt lyrics on "And It's Supposed To Be Love", a track that includes background vocals plus the cello and marimba of her partner, plus "Wholly Earth" where she plays several percussion instruments over African style chanting. The tempo moves up a gear on the blues tinged "Wild JuJu Child" where there is an almost desperate and pleading quality to the delivery. The classically inspired "Toccata" has words of great charm, sung over a gentle guitar accompaniment with echoes of Karen Krog's earlier works. The haunting " Wonderous Story" by Carl Nielsen tackles scriptural subjects over the enchanting sound of thumb piano and strong bass lines.
Discrete electronics form the background for "Saraband" where the bass solo is no less than magnificent, before the penultimate offering "Ghost Lullaby" deals with good and evil in equal measure.
The album ends as it began with one of the all time great songs, Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah". This time the approach is ethereal, bringing together both lyrics and wordless vocals in slow tempo against the background of the cello and pulsating bass. There have been many superb performances of this masterwork down the years, this version standing among the best.
In summary this is an album of sophisticated contemporary European jazz delivered brilliantly by two masters of the art.
Reviewed By Jim Burlong
|
|
|
