Julia Wereup (vocals); Sven-Erik Lundeqvist (piano); Johnny Åman (bass); Thomas Blachman (drums)
Swedish-born, Danish-based Wereup is a Scandinavian songbird with an original, hard to define style that is so laid-back you could go away and make a cup of tea in between phrases without missing a syllable.
Gloomy Sunday is exactly that. Once known as "The Suicide Song" it is not misnamed, she makes the Billie Holiday version sound like Happy Birthday!
That she has an appealing voice is undeniable. There is a faint suggestion of Billie, Peggy, Shirley Horn - at times it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up there is just so much sensuality poured into the lyric possibly a little too much! Even Take Five and Afro Blue are drawn out and given the wee small hours treatment.
Having said all that, It is well worth checking out. Piano, bass and drums do the business with nice solos from Lundeqvist whilst Åman and Blachman combine to produce some surreal rhythms particularly on Nina Simone's Blackbird. Other tunes include The Thrill is Gone; The Touch of Your Lips and Born to be Blue.
Lance
Available in various formats from Stunt Records.
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