Track Listing

1. Yes Is A Pleasant Country
2. Ida Lupino
3. Closer
4. All I Need
5. A. I. R. (All India Radio)
6. Seven /Somewhere I Have Never Traveled, Gladly Beyond
7. Skies May Be Blue
8. 'Round Midnight
9. Maggie and Milly and Molly and May
10. Since Feeling Is First
11. Mane Na

Product Details

• Released on: 2002-04-16
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Dimensions: .26 pounds

From Amazon.co.uk
Swiss-Dutch singer Susanne Abbuehl's April is a striking debut for a label which, over the years, has recorded such comparably coolly arresting vocalists as Norma Winstone, Karin Krog and Annette Peacock. Backed by a beautifully integrated trio of Wolfert Brederode (piano, harmonium, melodica), Christof May (clarinets) and Samuel Rohrer (drums, percussion) Abbuehl delivers an hour-long programme as intelligent as it is soulful. Most of the lyrics are taken from the late American poet EE Cummings (who was drawn to jazz), with Abbuehl contributing thoughtful words to Carla Bley's "Ida Lupino" and "Closer" and offering an unusually atmospheric reading of Bernie Hanigen's lyrics to Thelonious Monk's and Cootie William's "'Round Midnight"--supported here only by the excellent Brederode on harmonium. Bley and Cummings feature equally in the programme: one of the standout tracks is the setting of Cummings's "Somewhere I Have Never Travelled" to Bley's "Seven", and there is also a knockout version of Bley's "A.I.R." where Abbuehl's quietly smouldering vocalese is beautifully complemented by Rohrer's deep-toned and ritualistic percussion. Exemplified by the solo vocal of "Since Feeling Is First", Abbuehl reveals an appealingly spacious command of pitch, intonation and rhythm, her voice and delivery at once richly formed and intimate, weighty and transparent. It's a long way from the harmonic twists and turns of "'Round Midnight" to the modal invocations of the drone-like and concluding "Mane Na", but Abbuehl and her companions manage to make it seem as natural as breathing. --Michael Tucker

Chronique amazon.fr
Née à Berne, Susanne Abbuehl a étudié le chant classique au conservatoire royal de La Haye, le jazz avec Jeanne Lee et le chant classique de l'Inde du Nord à Bombay. Elle pose sa voix avec une infinie douceur et son chant semble venir du plus profond d'elle-même comme pour nous révéler quelque secret message au-delà des mots qu'elle exprime. Le quartette qui l'accompagne fonctionne un peu comme un ensemble de musique de chambre et s'attache à la perfection de la forme. Sa démarche est résolument minimaliste. Peu de notes mais les plus justes, celles qui pèsent de tout leur poids et répandent l'émotion. Un piano rêveur (Wolfert Brederode), une mélancolique et tendre clarinette (Christof May), un batteur d'une extrême discrétion (Samuel Rohrer) répondent à la pureté d'une voix envoûtante. En partie consacré aux compositions de Carla Bley – magnifiques reprises de "Ida Lupino", "Closer" et "A.I.R. (All India Radio)" –, April s'impose par la délicatesse de ses paysages musicaux. --Pierre de Chocqueuse