Wednesday, April 5, 2017

Stephan Oliva / Susanne Abbuehl / Øyvind Hegg-Lunde - Princess (2017)


I’ve been singing with French pianist Stephan Oliva since 2000, doing a few concerts per year, mostly playing duo. These concerts have always been special to me, they felt like fleeting night music. We were never in any rush to record, enjoying very much the intense and elusive moments concerts are. In 2006, I was invited to record two tracks on Stephan’s album “Miroirs” (his other duo partners on this record including Joey Baron, Linda Sharrock, Jean-Marc Foltz). And last year, he invited me to be part of an entire record, together with Norwegian drummer and percussionist Øyvind Hegg-Lunde. We really love Jimmy Giuffre and Don Cherry: Their playing, but also very much their compositions. For a singer, to be invited into a collective, where the voice is a very equal part of the group, is a privilege. It allows me to develop different shades of musicianship, and I truly enjoy it.

“Princess” will be released on the French independent label “Vision Fugitive” (I am appearing courtesy of ECM Records) by the end of the month. We will be playing concerts in Arles (Jazz à Arles, May 11), Paris (Duc des Lombards, May 12), Porquerolles (Festival, July 7) and Sint-Niklaas (Belgium, Festival, February 18, 2018).

Susanne Abbuehl


1 The Listening 00:05:34
2 River Chant / Tree People
3 Princess 00:06:53
4 Trance 00:02:22
5 On Your Skin 00:03:31
6 Desireless / Mopti 00:05:18
7 Mosquito Dance 00:03:22
8 Winter Day 00:05:08
9 Great Bird 00:05:04
10 Jimmy 00:01:46
11 What a Wonderful World 00:03:56

Susanne Abbuehl (voice)
Stephan Oliva (piano)
Øyvind Hegg\-Lunde (drums)