LOW-FLY QUINTET - Winter Love Song
Losen: LOS227-2
Camilla Tomta:vocal; Siri Snortheim: ‘cello; Uri Sal: double bass, backing vocals; Ole Gjostol: piano, backing vocals; Skjalg Lidsheim: drums, percussion, backing vocals
Recorded June 2019 at Dakkota Studio, Hamar, Norway
In the liner notes, Tomta writes a short story in which the titles of the eight songs on this set are woven. In the story, there is a tale on love won and lost, with the feeling that her lover had turned ‘winter blues’ into a ‘winter love song’. The memories of this brief affair are delicately captured in the ballad ‘Lean in’ (track 4) and the regret is perfectly expressed in the collective, male backing vocals – ‘she never wanted to leave’ – on ‘Last to love you’ (track 8) . The music swerves between the euphoria of love to the despair of loss, and throughout the mood is perfectly matched by Tomta’s beguiling singing.
There is something of the mid ‘60s ‘torch’ singer to her voice, mixed with a good sense of early Blues recordings. The combination of bass, ‘cello and piano provide absolutely the right mood for these songs. One of the highlights (in addition to Tomta’s singing) was the pizzicato ‘cello soloing on ‘Winter Blues’ (track 5). Musically, the band play a style of jazz that could be described as a chamber-version of Big Band – while this might sound contradictory, what I mean is that their rhythms, chord progressions and dynamics hark back to earlier music while the selection of instruments, obviously, creates a sound that is intimate and subtle. For instance, the song ‘Smile’ (track 7) Tomta sings a bouncing verse with a boogie-woogie swing, and this segues into the band playing something of a tango. This album follows ‘Stop for a while’ (reviewed here : https://www.jazzviews.net/low-fly-quintet---stop-for-a-while.html) and the song-writing has not only become more developed but also the band have settled into their own unique sound.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
Losen: LOS227-2
Camilla Tomta:vocal; Siri Snortheim: ‘cello; Uri Sal: double bass, backing vocals; Ole Gjostol: piano, backing vocals; Skjalg Lidsheim: drums, percussion, backing vocals
Recorded June 2019 at Dakkota Studio, Hamar, Norway
In the liner notes, Tomta writes a short story in which the titles of the eight songs on this set are woven. In the story, there is a tale on love won and lost, with the feeling that her lover had turned ‘winter blues’ into a ‘winter love song’. The memories of this brief affair are delicately captured in the ballad ‘Lean in’ (track 4) and the regret is perfectly expressed in the collective, male backing vocals – ‘she never wanted to leave’ – on ‘Last to love you’ (track 8) . The music swerves between the euphoria of love to the despair of loss, and throughout the mood is perfectly matched by Tomta’s beguiling singing.
There is something of the mid ‘60s ‘torch’ singer to her voice, mixed with a good sense of early Blues recordings. The combination of bass, ‘cello and piano provide absolutely the right mood for these songs. One of the highlights (in addition to Tomta’s singing) was the pizzicato ‘cello soloing on ‘Winter Blues’ (track 5). Musically, the band play a style of jazz that could be described as a chamber-version of Big Band – while this might sound contradictory, what I mean is that their rhythms, chord progressions and dynamics hark back to earlier music while the selection of instruments, obviously, creates a sound that is intimate and subtle. For instance, the song ‘Smile’ (track 7) Tomta sings a bouncing verse with a boogie-woogie swing, and this segues into the band playing something of a tango. This album follows ‘Stop for a while’ (reviewed here : https://www.jazzviews.net/low-fly-quintet---stop-for-a-while.html) and the song-writing has not only become more developed but also the band have settled into their own unique sound.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
