Lisa Ekdahl - Grand Songs

Styles: Vocal
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 37:15
Size: 87,5 MB
Art: Front

(3:08) 1. Wish You Were Gay
(4:20) 2. You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'
(3:34) 3. If I Were a Boy
(3:49) 4. Stop! In the Name of Love
(3:50) 5. Most of the Time
(3:26) 6. I Should Have Known Better
(4:07) 7. Till the Rivers All Run Dry
(3:06) 8. Dream a Little Dream of Me
(3:48) 9. Take a Giant Step
(4:03) 10. You Can Close Your Eyes

After more than 20 years of career, 2 million albums sold and 200 million streams on platforms, the Swedish singer with the unique vocal signature releases an album with English covers of great songs pop of yesterday and today: Grand Songs. The choice of songs is a message in itself. It's a time machine, reflecting the dizzying abundance of the digital age. A secret advantage of covers is also to modestly send very personal messages, through the words of another. "This is true for me as it is for any listener. If a song touches you deeply, it's often because it offers expression to intimate feelings", Lisa explains.

Upon arrival, "Grand Songs" is a very interesting step in Lisa's musical journey. Charming, tender, surprising. Her versions of Billie Eilish or Beyoncé show that she can connect with the most contemporary pop, while remaining faithful to her style. Grand Songs turns out to be dreamlike, poetic and timeless, Jazzy with a pinch of Soul and Folk. The quintessential 'Feel Good' album! https://www.bengans.se/sv/artiklar/ekdahl-lisa-grand-songs.html

Grand Songs

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Lisa Ekdahl - More of the Good

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2018
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 39:16
Size: 92,3 MB
Art: Front

(3:26)  1. Let's Go to Sleep
(3:51)  2. Playful Heart of Mine
(3:43)  3. I Know You Love Me
(4:52)  4. More of the Good
(4:43)  5. Thorn in My Heart
(3:57)  6. Like Mermaids
(4:04)  7. Sweet Feeling of Freedom
(3:34)  8. The Moon Can Not Be Stolen
(3:06)  9. In Dreams
(3:54) 10. Crown of Love

Best known in Scandinavia for her 1994 hit "Vem Vet, " Lisa Ekdahl became one of the top Swedish pop singers of the 1990s but also records and performs straightahead jazz. Ekdahl's pop albums have been in Swedish, while her acoustic jazz albums have favored English-language standards. The thin-voiced singer was born and raised in Stockholm, where in 1990, she started singing jazz with the trio of pianist Peter Nordahl. In 1994, her self-titled debut album came out in Sweden, and it was that year that her single "Vem Vet" (which is Swedish for "Who Knows") made her a superstar in Scandinavia at the age of 23. Ekdahl's subsequent pop albums in Sweden included Med Kroppen Mot Jorden in 1996 and Bortom Det Bla in 1997. The singer's first English-language effort, When Did You Leave Heaven, was also her first jazz album and the first Ekdahl album to come out in the U.S. When Did You Leave Heaven was a big seller in Sweden, but the album (which came out on RCA Victor in the U.S.) received its share of negative reviews from American jazz critics, who felt that Ekdahl's thin, very girlish voice was wrong for standards and straightahead jazz and argued that she should stick to pop. Her next jazz recording, Back to Earth, came out in 1999. ~ Alex Henderson https://www.allmusic.com/artist/lisa-ekdahl-mn0000297886/biography

More of the Good

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Lisa Ekdahl - Back To Earth

Styles: Jazz, Vocal
Year: 1997
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 54:35
Size: 125,8 MB
Art: Front

(3:35)  1. Now Or Never
(4:48)  2. Nature Boy
(3:41)  3. Stranger On Earth
(6:12)  4. Laziest Girl In Town
(3:09)  5. It Had To Be You
(1:36)  6. Down With Love
(5:04)  7. What Is This Thing Called Love
(5:29)  8. Tea For Two
(3:20)  9. The Lonely One
(3:20) 10. I Get A Kick Out Of You
(3:24) 11. Just For A Thrill
(4:32) 12. Night And Day
(6:20) 13. Plaintive Rumba

At first, Lisa Ekdahl's squeaky, girlish voice may seem inappropriate for the pop standards she has chosen to make her trade, but given some time, her voice and laid-back style become endearing. True, she occasionally seems mannered and borrows heavily from her inspirations (most notably Billie Holiday), but she shows signs of developing her own style throughout her second American album, Back to Earth. Like its predecessor, When Did You Leave Heaven, Back to Earth was recorded with the Peter Nordahl Trio and has a charming mellow vibe. Nordahl has an elegant turn of phrase and his rhythm section drummer Ronnie Gardiner and bassist Patrik Boman has a light touch that keeps the focus on Ekdahl. It is true that her voice may strike some listeners as odd, but it's girlish, not thin, which means she can nail the emotions of the songs. There may be a few missteps here and there, but she delivers ballads ("What Is This Thing Called Love?," "The Laziest Gal in Town," "Now or Never") as well as swing ("Down with Love," "I Get a Kick Out of You"). Yes, the selections are a little predictable and Ekdahl is a bit of an acquired taste, but ultimately, Back to Earth is quite charming. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine http://www.allmusic.com/album/back-to-earth-mw0000231807

Personnel: Lisa Ekdahl (vocals); Peter Nordahl (piano); Patrik Boman (bass); Ronnie Gardiner (drums).

Back To Earth

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Lisa Ekdahl - When Did You Leave Heaven

Bitrate: MP3@320K/s
Time: 46:12
Size: 105.8 MB
Styles: Jazz vocals
Year: 1995/2003
Art: Front

[6:00] 1. When Did You Leave Heaven
[3:22] 2. But Not For Me
[5:03] 3. Cry Me A River
[4:17] 4. Love For Sale
[3:16] 5. Lush Life
[2:27] 6. You're Gonna See A Lot Of Me
[6:42] 7. Just One Of Those Things
[3:53] 8. The Boy Next Door
[2:59] 9. I'm A Fool To Want You
[2:52] 10. My Heart Belongs To Daddy
[5:15] 11. Blame It On My Youth

A major pop star in Scandinavia, Lisa Ekdahl was 24 when she attempted to sing straight-ahead jazz on the consistently weak When Did You Leave Heaven, which was her first release in the U.S. and her first all-English recording. The Swedish singer's thin, girlish, mousy voice might work on bubblegum pop, but it's hardly appropriate for standards like "Cry Me a River" and "I'm a Fool to Want You." Ekdahl tries to emulate Billie Holiday, although the disc ends up sounding more like Paula Abdul with a Scandinavian accent making an ill-advised attempt at acoustic jazz. Especially embarrassing is her version of "Lush Life" -- this is a song that even 35-year-old singers shy away from because they don't feel they've done enough living, and Ekdahl gives no indication that she has the type of depth needed to sing this Billy Strayhorn classic convincingly. As many gifted jazz singers as Sweden had in the late 1990s (including Jeanette Lindström and Lina Nyberg), it's most regrettable that RCA Victor chose to record someone who should have stuck to commercial pop. ~Alex Henderson

When Did You Leave Heaven

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