Caecilie Norby & Lars Danielsson – Just The Two Of Us
Husband and wife duo, singer Caecilie Norby and bassist Lars Danielsson, have finally recorded a record with just the two of them. A couple of tracks have been in Caecilie’s live repertoire for several years (“Both Sides Now” by Joni Mitchell, “Hallelujah” by Leonard Cohen, and “Wholly Earth” by Abbey Lincoln) and have now found the way onto this very intimate CD as well.
There are five songs written by the duo, one by Lars and two by Caecilie plus the afore-mentioned covers and one by Danish composer Carl Nielsen. I can imagine that it is impossible with anybody else to record these intimate duos, according to Lars in the liner notes, since there is just voice and bass involved and there are so many open and free moments here that it is essential to know each other inside out.
A lot of beautiful moments make up this CD, like the dreamy “Liberetto Cantabile” or “Cherry Tree” where Lars switches to guitar and which comes across as a singer/songwriter/folk tune, but there is some exoticism included as well, like the mystical “Sad Sunday”. Caecilie’s rich, full voice is impeccable throughout and I like her best on the slower numbers.
The second Abbey Lincoln tune, “And It’s Supposed To Be Love”, is done in a bluesier, downtempo version but clearly doesn’t match the original. I don’t like the additional vocal on this one. “Wild Juju Child” features extra percussion and makes up for some change of sound. The Carl Nielsen composition “Wondrous Story” is simply beautiful and Caecilie plays the sansula on this one, an instrument that belongs to the kalimba family.
The bass-only “Sarabande” and Caecilie’s “Ghost Lullabye” are two more voluptuous songs, the latter of which almost crossing over to a country ballad with the additional backing vocals. A beautiful story set to a marvelous melody. More of that!
Caecilie and Lars are on tour together with their new project:
10/21 Greve, Portalen
10/22 Arhus, Musikhus
10/23 Alborg, Musikkens Hus
10/24 Saeby, Franks
10/25 Copenhagen, DR Byen Studio 2
10/29 Fredericia, Det Bruunske Pakhus
10/30 Horsens, Cafe Gran
10/31 Odense, Dexter
11/01 Korsor, tba
11/07 Neuwied, Jazz Festival
11/15 Holbaek, Elvaerket
11/27 Stuttgart, Bix Jazzclub
12/10 Bistrup, Bistrup Kerke
12/15 Berlin, A-Trane
12/16 Kiel, Kulturforum
12/17 Hamburg, tba
12/18 Cologne, Altes Pfandhaus
12/19 Minden, Jazzclub
