Thursday, November 10, 2005  

Solveig Slettahjell
Photo taken at Scene West Victoria in Oslo, Norway, August 16, 2005.


"Have a Little Faith in Me"
Pixiedust
(Curling Legs, 2005)


"Take It With Me"
Silver
(Curling Legs, 2004)


"My Heart Belongs to Daddy"
Slow Motion Orchestra
(Curling Legs, 2001)

One of the highlights of this summer's Oslo Jazz Festival was Solveig Slettahjell's Slow Motion Quintet, which features some of the best musicians in Norway, including In the Country's Morten Qvenild (formerly of Jaga Jazzist, Shining, and a bunch of other great bands).

Slettahjell's first CD, Slow Motion Orchestra, features her musicians on acoustic instruments playing radically revamped jazz standards at a gorgeous crawl, such as Cole Porter's "My Heart Belongs to Daddy." Her second CD, Silver, mixes in a couple of modern tunes, such as Tom Waits' "Take It With Me," with the standards. The acoustic instruments and molasses tempos are still present, but there's a greater emphasis on further tearing apart the song structures and harmonies. But it's Slettahjell's third CD, Pixiedust, that shows what her future may hold: an incredibly strong, classically trained jazz singer fronting a band of Bjork-loving jazztronica lads. The off-kilter songs still move at a snail's pace, but now they're colored with buzzing and blipping electronics. Plus, there are more originals (courtesy of Friko's Peder Kiellsby) mixed with the standards and pop songs, such as John Hiatt's lovely "Have a Little Faith in Me."

Silver won the Spellemannspris this year -- the Norwegian equivalent of a Grammy -- for best jazz album of 2004; I imagine Pixiedust will be in the running next year. But don't let that scare you off. Slettahjell truly deserves the accolades.

Buy Solveig Slettahjell CDs / downloads from her label.

Or buy from iTunes:
Pixiedust
Silver
Slow Motion Orchestra

Oslo Jazz Festival
August 15, 2005 - August 21, 2005
Click here to read my review of the festival -- and of Slettahjell's performance.

Posted by CP | Link |

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