SIDSEL ENDRESEN - Exile (1994) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

The material on Exile, the second ECM album by singer/poet Sidsel Endresen, had its genesis in a commission from the Molde Inter­national Jazz Festival 1993. Working outward from the lyrics, using them as the basis for a larger form, Endresen conceived a series of linked songs, con­nected by atmosphere and theme that she was to title "Pagan Pilgrimage". Some musical ideas were communicated together with the lyrics to the co-composers she had chosen for the task; other pieces she developed herself, in collaboration with the arranger for the whole work: Morten Halle.

Audience reaction to "Pagan Pilgrimage" was extremely positive, and the Norwegian press seconded the crowd's emotions. Terje Mosnes, in leading daily Dagbladet, spoke of "seventy-five minutes of beautiful music, with evocative harmonies and dissonances and surprising melody lines". Mosnes continued: "Only an artist with strong musicality and vocal control can allow herself to choose such a naked, vulnerable form as she does, and still make the listening experience so gratifying and rich."

However, a successful stage presentation does not necessarily translate effortlessly into the recorded medium. In the studio (Oslo's Rainbow studio), the decision was taken to depart from the larger form of "Pagan Pilgrimage", and concentrate on the separate pieces. Some sections were excised altogether, new elements were added, including improvised pieces by Endresen and David Darling. The album, then, is presented as a collection of songs – lyrics by Endresen –  music by Django Bates, Jon Balke, Jon Eberson, Darling and Endresen herself – grouped under the title Exile. ecm
Tracklist
1    Here The Moon 2'29
(Sidsel Endresen)
2    Quest 6'31
(Jon Eberson)
3    Stages I, II, III 7'46
(Django Bates)
4    Hunger 6'25
(David Darling)
5    Theme I 2'11
(Sidsel Endresen, David Darling)
6    Waiting Train 3'50
(Jon Eberson)
7    The Dreaming 4'37
(Jon Balke)
8    Dust 7'59
(Jon Eberson)
9    Variation III 3'10
(Jon Christensen, David Darling)
10    Theme II 2'31
(Sidsel Endresen, David Darling)
11    Exile 8'08
(Sidsel Endresen)
Credits :
Sidsel Endresen - Voice
Django Bates - Piano, Tenor Horn
Nils Petter Molvaer - Trumpet
Jon Christensen - Drums, Percussion
David Darling - Cello
Jens Bugge Wesseltoft - Keyboards