Sinne Eeg & Jacob Christoffersen

SHIKIORI

Stunt Records

Sinne Eeg, vocals/additional vocals; Jacob Christoffersen, piano/Fender Rhodes/additional vocals.

This is a magical merger featuring the dynamic voice of Sinne Eeg, with masterful pianist Jacob Christoffersen.  They’ve been playing together for 2-decades, in groups, as composers, as artists and now, as a duo. Eeg is a preeminent jazz vocalist in Scandinavia.

Shikiori is the grandmother’s country cottage of bassist, Seigo Matsunaga. It’s been standing for over 150 years.

“It’s surrounded by rice fields, where deer and wild boars far outnumber humans,” the bass player Matsunaga explains in his liner notes.

This respected musician has transformed his grandmother’s traditional Japanese home into a popular concert venue. That is where Eeg and Christoffersen recorded this ‘live’ album. The house, like this unique project, is rich with culture and spiritual connection. Inside, a Shinto altar sits near a weathered piano, along with a photo of Matsunaga’s mentor, Niels-Henning Orsted Pedersen. This album is a product of merging cultures and art, Japanese and Danish, all wrapped in the glistening American art form of jazz.

I believe Sinne Eeg hears the strings and the horn lines in her head.  The melodies she hums and improvises over the piano accompaniment of Jacob Christoffersen give us an idea of what an orchestrated group might play. You hear her vocal ideas on a song called “Hebi.” Hebi translates from Japanese to English, meaning ‘snake.’  Still, it’s a beautiful, dreamy ballad sung wordlessly, with the vocalist overdubbing, to create a full, rich melodic presentation.

The familiar Japanese noodle dish called “Soba” is one of Christoffersen’s favorite soups. So, it’s completely understandable that he would compose a song titled “Soba Flower.”  The lyrics are written by local Japanese singer and songwriter, Remi.  Sinne Eeg learned to sing the song in Japanese. Their arrangement conveys a certain sense of calm and serenity.

Although many of the songs on this album are original compositions, they do ‘cover’ several familiar tunes like Billy Strayhorn’s “Lush Life” and Bernstein and Sondheim’s popular “Maria.”  They also reinvent “But Not For Me.” It’s been a part of Eeg’s repertoire for many years. She sings the opening verse, skipping along with notes that dance like stones thrown across a smooth lake. Also, she reinvents the pop song by Annie Lennox called “Cold.”

The beauty of Jacob Christoffersen’s piano, and excellent accompaniment, shines throughout.  When Sinne Eeg swings “Better Than Anything” Christoffersen is right there being creative and improvisational as the vocalist sings and swings sweetly.  Her wonderful accompanist does his own creative exploration of the 88-keys, while Eeg adlibs and scat-sings.  I am so impressed with this duo. They feed off of each other. Like the hummingbird and a blossom, they belong together.

Reviewed by Dee Dee McNeil

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