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​METTE JUUL - Change

Universal 7796107

Mette Juul (v,g); Ulf Wakenius, Gilad Hekselman, Per Molleho ( g); Lars Danielsson (b) Heine Hansen (p) 
Recorded Norway 2019

This programme of thirteen songs, a mix of originals by Ms Juul and standards is played through at slow to medium tempo and is made up of solo, duo and trio performances. Ms Juul begins with a slow ballad reading of Beautiful Love with just her voice and her own guitar accompaniment. Her voice is clear, and she tends to like long, sustained vocal lines although her humming during this opening selection is not so much scat as vocal noodling. Cole Porter’s Get Out Of Town is performed as a voice, double bass and piano exercise but it is not really a jazz version. There are some improvised lines by Hekselman, who does well on Northern Woods and a well-structured guitar solo by Molleho on Peacocks, the joint composition of pianist Jimmy Rowles and vocalist Norma Winstone. Hansen, on piano, sustains a mood on Get Out Of Town and Without A Song and Ms Juul’s vocals are always melodic if not particularly jazz oriented. The best tracks to sample would be a slow but effective Just Friends and the smooth sounding It Might Be Time To Say Goodbye with words and lyrics by Ms Juul. The programme though, is really superior pop with jazz and folk flavours.

Reviewed by Derek Ansell

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ECM celebrates 50 years of music production with the Touchstones series of re-issues