SINNE EEG - Dreams
Stunt Records STUCD 17112
Sinne Eeg (vocals) Jacob Christofferson (piano) Larry Koonse (guitar) Joey Baron (drums) Scott Colley (bass) Warny Mandrup, Lasse Nilsson, Jenny Nillson (additional vocals) Recorded in Brooklyn NY, 12th & 13th January 2017 with additional production and mixing in Copenhagen.
Sinne Eeg is a Danish singer/songwriter with no fewer than eight recordings and numerous awards to her credit. In Scandinavia her reputation as an A list jazz vocalist is well established and with this new release recorded in Brooklyn with her regular pianist and three high profile American musicians she is positioned to widen her exposure to a transatlantic audience.
Singing in English with a light American accent she enunciates her lyrics and renders her melodies with perfect clarity and intonation adding just a touch of smoky sleaziness to the torchier numbers like the opening `Bitter End` which derives a noir-like feel from the insinuating pulse of Scott Colley’s beautifully captured bass line. This is one of six tunes attributed to Eeg who comes over as a talented composer and lyricist capable of addressing a variety of themes with equal accomplishment from the conventional love ballad to the valedictory elegy, the pathos of an anti-war song, `Aleppo` and the non-lexical noodling of the soaring title tune . Only with her addendum to Cole Porter’s lyrics in her jaunty version of `Anything Goes`, in which she references contemporary issues, does she lose her poise, failing to match Porter’s wit by sounding contrived and awkward. Of the remaining programme there are a further three Songbook standards, all delivered with invigorating vitality, elements of re-invention and a smattering of scat in which she pays homage to her American role models, Sarah Vaughan, Betty Carter, Nancy Wilson and Shelia Jordan but with their intoxicating nuances expertly distilled with Scandinavian cool to produce a perfect musical aquavit.
For all Miss Eeg’s personal talent it has to be said that a very large part of the success of this album must be attributed to the musicians she has chosen for her band. Their contribution, from the spare but thoughtful pianism of Christofferson, Colley’s expressive bass figures and Baron’s agile drumming, which attain an exciting apotheosis in their dialogue on `What is This Thing Called Love`, to the svelte harmonies and un-showy intelligence of Koonse’s guitar work; it is their combined efforts that guarantee the session’s jazz credentials.
Reviewed by Euan Dixon
Stunt Records STUCD 17112
Sinne Eeg (vocals) Jacob Christofferson (piano) Larry Koonse (guitar) Joey Baron (drums) Scott Colley (bass) Warny Mandrup, Lasse Nilsson, Jenny Nillson (additional vocals) Recorded in Brooklyn NY, 12th & 13th January 2017 with additional production and mixing in Copenhagen.
Sinne Eeg is a Danish singer/songwriter with no fewer than eight recordings and numerous awards to her credit. In Scandinavia her reputation as an A list jazz vocalist is well established and with this new release recorded in Brooklyn with her regular pianist and three high profile American musicians she is positioned to widen her exposure to a transatlantic audience.
Singing in English with a light American accent she enunciates her lyrics and renders her melodies with perfect clarity and intonation adding just a touch of smoky sleaziness to the torchier numbers like the opening `Bitter End` which derives a noir-like feel from the insinuating pulse of Scott Colley’s beautifully captured bass line. This is one of six tunes attributed to Eeg who comes over as a talented composer and lyricist capable of addressing a variety of themes with equal accomplishment from the conventional love ballad to the valedictory elegy, the pathos of an anti-war song, `Aleppo` and the non-lexical noodling of the soaring title tune . Only with her addendum to Cole Porter’s lyrics in her jaunty version of `Anything Goes`, in which she references contemporary issues, does she lose her poise, failing to match Porter’s wit by sounding contrived and awkward. Of the remaining programme there are a further three Songbook standards, all delivered with invigorating vitality, elements of re-invention and a smattering of scat in which she pays homage to her American role models, Sarah Vaughan, Betty Carter, Nancy Wilson and Shelia Jordan but with their intoxicating nuances expertly distilled with Scandinavian cool to produce a perfect musical aquavit.
For all Miss Eeg’s personal talent it has to be said that a very large part of the success of this album must be attributed to the musicians she has chosen for her band. Their contribution, from the spare but thoughtful pianism of Christofferson, Colley’s expressive bass figures and Baron’s agile drumming, which attain an exciting apotheosis in their dialogue on `What is This Thing Called Love`, to the svelte harmonies and un-showy intelligence of Koonse’s guitar work; it is their combined efforts that guarantee the session’s jazz credentials.
Reviewed by Euan Dixon
