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The Song is You

Lilly feat. Gilad Hekselman & Kirk Knuffke

The Song is You

Price: € 14.95
Format: CD
Label: Double Moon Records
UPC: 0608917138627
Catnr: DMCHR 71386
Release date: 26 March 2021
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Label
Double Moon Records
UPC
0608917138627
Catalogue number
DMCHR 71386
Release date
26 March 2021

"This is an absolute top album. Artistically and sound technically superior."

FWD, 06-1-2022
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Artist(s)
Composer(s)
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About the album

Interpreting the standards from the Great American Songbook is considered by many to be the supreme discipline in jazz. Anyone who dares to sing songs like “My Foolish Heart” by Victor Young and Ned Washington, “It Might As Well Be Spring” by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein or “Prelude to a Kiss” by Duke Ellington automatically exposes himself or herself to the comparison with hundreds of performers who have already sung them.

For the Danish jazz singer Lilly – full name Lilly-Ann Hertzman – they also are part of her musical DNA. “I love these songs; they speak to me,” she said with enthusiasm. “I have been listening to and singing jazz since I was a teenager, so I am very familiar with these songs. I mostly only sang my own songs on my first three albums. But it was completely natural for me to sing these other songs now.”
She already did this on her previous album “Tenderly”, in a duet with the Israeli-American guitarist Gilad Hekselman. The album received euphoric reactions. For Lilly, this was a reason to dare something similar without repeating herself. This time, Kirk Knuffke joined the tried-and-tested duet of singer and guitarist. The American cornet player brings an additional tone quality into play.

“The entire album was recorded in New York on one day; it was very spontaneous,” the singer stated with obvious pleasure. “Of course, I was very happy to be able to record with Gilad and Kirk.”
Three years ago, she had a joint performance with the cornetist at the Copenhagen Jazz Festival and has kept him and his special tone in mind since then. Lilly also finds enthusiastic words for her other musical partner, who is so much more than just a companion, but instead a creator on equal terms.

“Gilad is a wonderful person and also one of the best musicians I have ever played with," she stated. “He makes everything so easy for me. He is very open-minded, but has both feet on the ground. “Let's see what happens” is his attitude, and I share it. He makes me sing better because I can relax with him.”

In addition to nine standards, Lilly's own song “Five Wild Geese” made it onto the album, about whose title and title track the singer was particularly concerned. It is not without reason at the end of the album. “I tried to find a common framework for the songs that made it onto the album,” Lilly said, “and then I decided on the album title 'The Song Is You’. It expresses the spirit of that day for me.”
The song by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein is of course a love song. “To show your love to another person requires courage,” Lilly said. “That's my interpretation of the song.”

But she also finds other levels of interpretation of this song, which has been close to her heart for quite some time. “At the same time, you can also emphasize the ‘You’ from ‘The Song Is You’,” Lilly explained. “It's not about ego, but about following your heart and dreams. You also have to love yourself and be honest if you really want to love.”

And finally, the song expresses something a lot deeper for Lilly. “The title ‘The Song Is You’ is also about what musicians and singers do when they interpret a song,” the singer explained. “The moment you sing or play a song, you become that song. At least that's what I'm interested in. I want to interpret a story and make it my own. I completely blank out who else recorded this song.”
The sensitive and sometimes surprising interpretations that Lilly and her two companions have succeeded in creating here would easily withstand some comparison, but that wouldn’t be something that Lilly considers important. For her, something completely different is in the foreground. “We were very relaxed in the studio and had fun,” she said with pleasure, “and that's what it's all about. Be yourself!”

www.lillysongs.com
Die Standards aus dem Great American Songbook zu interpretieren, gilt für viele als die Königsdisziplin im Jazz. Wer sich an Songs wie „My Foolish Heart“ von Victor Young und Ned Washington, „It Might As Well Be Spring“ von Richard Rodgers und Oscar Hammerstein oder „Prelude to a Kiss“ von Duke Ellington wagt, setzt sich automatisch dem Vergleich mit Hunderten Interpreten aus, die diese Lieder schon gesungen haben.
Auch für die dänische Jazzsängerin Lilly - vollständiger Name Lilly-Ann Hertzman - gehören sie zu ihrer musikalischen DNA. „Ich liebe diese Songs, sie sprechen zu mir“, schwärmt sie. „Ich höre und singe Jazz, seit ich ein Teenager bin, deshalb sind mir diese Songs sehr vertraut. Auf meinen ersten drei Alben habe ich größtenteils nur meine eigenen Songs gesungen. Für mich war es aber völlig selbstverständlich, jetzt diese anderen Songs zu singen.“
Das hat sie nämlich bereits auf dem Vorgänger-Album „Tenderly“ getan und zwar im Duo mit dem israelisch-amerikanischen Gitarristen Gilad Hekselman. Das Album erntete euphorische Reaktionen. Für Lilly mit ein Grund, etwas Ähnliches zu wagen, ohne sich zu wiederholen. Zu dem bewährten Duo aus der Sängerin und dem Gitarristen gesellt sich deshalb diesmal Kirk Knuffke. Der amerikanische Trompeter bringt eine zusätzliche Klangfarbe ins Spiel.
„Das gesamte Album wurde an einem Tag in New York aufgenommen, es war sehr spontan“, freut sich die Sängerin. „Ich war natürlich sehr froh darüber, mit Gilad und Kirk aufnehmen zu können.“
Mit dem Trompeter hatte sie vor drei Jahren einen gemeinsamen Auftritt beim Copenhagen Jazz Festival und ihn und seinen besonderen Ton seitdem stets im Hinterkopf behalten. Auch für ihren anderen musikalischen Partner, der so viel mehr ist als lediglich ein Begleiter, sondern ein Gestalter auf Augenhöhe, findet Lilly begeisterte Worte.
„Gilad ist ein wundervoller Mensch und außerdem einer der besten Musiker, mit denen ich je gespielt habe“, findet sie. „Er macht alles so einfach für mich. Er ist sehr offen, steht aber mit beiden Beinen fest auf dem Boden. Lass’ uns schauen, was passiert, ist seine Einstellung und die teile ich. Er sorgt dafür, dass ich besser singe, weil ich mich bei ihm entspannen kann.“
Neben neun Standards hat es noch Lillys eigener Song „Five Wild Geese“ aufs Album geschafft, über dessen Titel und Titelsong sich die Sängerin besonders viele Gedanken gemacht hat - er steht nicht ohne Grund am Schluss des Albums. „Ich versuchte, für die Songs, die es aufs Album geschafft haben, eine gemeinsame Klammer zu finden“, erzählt Lilly, „und habe mich dann für den Albumtitel ‚The Song Is You‘ entschieden. Der drückt für mich den Spirit dieses Tages aus.“
Der Song von Jerome Kern und Oscar Hammerstein ist natürlich ein Liebeslied. „Der anderen Person seine Liebe zu zeigen, dazu gehört Mut“, findet Lilly. „Das ist meine Interpretation des Songs.“
Sie findet aber auch noch weitere Interpretationsebenen dieses Liedes, das ihr seit langem ans Herz gewachsen ist. „Gleichzeitig kann man auch das ‚you‘ aus ‚The Song Is You‘ betonen“, erklärt Lilly. „Dabei geht es nicht ums Ego, sondern darum, seinem Herzen und seinen Träumen zu folgen. Man muss sich auch selbst lieben und ehrlich sein, wenn man wirklich lieben will.“
Und schließlich drückt der Song für Lilly auch noch etwas viel Weitergehendes aus. „Es geht bei dem Titel ‚The Song Is You‘ auch darum, was Musiker und Sänger tun, wenn sie einen Song interpretieren“, hat die Sängerin erfasst. „In dem Moment, wo man einen Song singt oder spielt, wird man zu diesem Song. Das ist es zumindest, woran ich interessiert bin. Ich möchte eine Geschichte interpretieren und sie mir zu Eigen machen. Dabei blende ich völlig aus, wer sonst noch diesen Song aufgenommen hat.“
Dabei würden die sensiblen und manchmal überraschenden Interpretationen, die Lilly und ihren beiden Mitstreitern hier gelungen sind, so manchem Vergleich locker standhalten - aber das ist nichts, was Lilly wichtig wäre. Für sie steht etwas völlig anderes im Vordergrund. „Wir waren im Studio ganz entspannt und hatten Spaß“, freut sie sich, „das ist es doch, worum es eigentlich geht. Sei du selbst.“

Artist(s)

Lilly (vocals)

LILLY aka LILLY-ANN HERTZMAN (b. 1973) is a singer, songwriter and producer who has received great reviews for creating evocative songs and soundscapes of a rare kind and with a personal expression and sound. Her inspirations and influences are many and goes across genres like jazz, singersongwriter, folk(lore) and pop. Her origins also cross borders, with a mother from Japan and a father from Denmark. Lilly has released four acclaimed albums. Two with own lyrics in English, Before The Crossing (2005) and Love Is A Sound (2009). Her third album, and the first with lyrics in Danish, was titled Menneskeblomst (2016), a selfinvented word that means Humanflower. The duoalbum , Tenderly feat. Gilad Hekselman (2017) , received rave reviews from USA, Germany...
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LILLY aka LILLY-ANN HERTZMAN (b. 1973) is a singer, songwriter and producer who has received great reviews for creating evocative songs and soundscapes of a rare kind and with a personal expression and sound. Her inspirations and influences are many and goes across genres like jazz, singersongwriter, folk(lore) and pop. Her origins also cross borders, with a mother from Japan and a father from Denmark.

Lilly has released four acclaimed albums. Two with own lyrics in English, Before The Crossing (2005) and Love Is A Sound (2009). Her third album, and the first with lyrics in Danish, was titled Menneskeblomst (2016), a selfinvented word that means Humanflower. The duoalbum , Tenderly feat. Gilad Hekselman (2017) , received rave reviews from USA, Germany and Denmark, and was chosen as Top 5 Best Vocal Release 2017 by The New York City Jazz Record.

Lilly is educated from the Royal Academy of Music in Aarhus, Denmark, from the department of music & movement, and has played, recorded and collaborated with some of the finest, most talented and versatile creative musicians in Scandinavia, Europe and US. Among others Lew Soloff (US), Aaron Parks (US), Gilad Hekselman (ISR), Kirk KnuWe (US), Gustaf Ljunggren (S), Anders AC Christensen (DK), Jonas Berg (S), Jeppe Kjellberg (DK), Thommy Andersson (S), Krister Jonsson (S), Jacob Fischer (DK) a.o.


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Kirk Knuffke (cornetto)

Composer(s)

Press

This is an absolute top album. Artistically and sound technically superior.
FWD, 06-1-2022

Charming, fresh and airy, but also profound and full of delicate power, that's how the music of Lilly...
Bayerischer Rundfunk, 13-4-2021

... Lilly-Ann Hertzman has an incredibly good and seemingly natural grip on the songs/ballads. It's as if they are part of her own musical DNA...
GAFFA, 26-3-2021

... All songs have in common that the protagonist conveys a strong emotional impression through her very sensitive voice, very personally marked. And this is particularly evident in the original composition "Five Wild Geese"...
Musikansich, 26-3-2021

... jazz-fun.de says: Lilly uses musical language in an extremely delicate way, not imposing her version of the story, but using the magic of mood and climate. The album offers us a variety of jazz experiences on a very high artistic level...
Jazz-Fun, 26-3-2021

... Lilly, aka Lilly-Ann Hertzman, succeeds in this, her versions present h themselves as artistic with a personal expression. Therefore, her interpretations offer an emotionally deep, truthful view, due to which these standards thus become her own songs.
Jazzthing, 23-3-2021

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Often bought together with..

The Montreal Sessions
North America Jazz Alliance

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