Fredrika Stahl - Sweep Me Away (2010)

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Fredrika Stahl - Sweep Me Away (2010)

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Alone amongst jazz players! The Swede Fredrika Stahl spent her youth in France. After school she moved to the Seine metropolis, wanted to become a dancer, but started off as a waitress.
And then became a jazz singer, discovered by Tom McClung, an old companion of Archie Shepp. But Fredrika Stahl didn’t want to interpret standards, she wanted to write her own songs. But since at least a decade, being a highly talented singer and songwriter in the border zone between jazz and pop is no longer a unique feature.
So she discombobulated the French jazz scene, toured with Herbie Hancock and Lionel Ritchie, released two albums with “A Fraction of you” and “Tributaries“, which have to be rated as exceptionally successful.
She rather brusquely said: “The question whether I am a pop singer or a jazz singer always shocks me. Where I belong. Into which category should I be classified. For me, art is one of the few things which cannot have set limits. For me it is simply music.
The main thing is that it sounds good.” Fredrika Stahl still has the biggest surprise in store for us though: “Sweep Me Away“ her third, just released album is proof of her resolute turn towards pop – in fact, extremely confidently presented, with opulent arrangements and hit qualities between beach boys and bossa nova that even fans of Kate Nash should like. A grand piece of art!