If one were to listen only to "My Favorite Things," the Richard Rodgers-Oscar Hammerstein Great American Songbook standard that opens Same Girl, one might deduce that Korea's Youn Sun Nah is just another cabaret singer with a pretty voice. The kalimba with which she is accompanying herself as she sings -- the sole instrument heard -- lends a sense of purity to the tune, and although the vocalist avoids the usual routes taken with the song, there's no real reason to get excited. Yet. Then things get interesting, fast. As she works her way through material from sources as diverse as Randy Newman, Sergio Mendes, and Metallica -- yes, Metallica; she does a mean "Enter Sandman" -- in addition to two original compositions and a Korean standard, Nah establishes that, in fact, she is incontestably an original, a jazz singer of great range, complexity, emotion, and ideas. Precision timing and sharp diction mark Nah's approach as she traverses the lyrics, but it's not only her technical prowess that makes Same Girl (her second release as a leader on the ACT label, after having spent a decade with a French band) such a delight. For one thing, she is constantly full of surprises. On the Mendes tune, "Song of No Regrets," Nah could have followed the rule book and sung the number as a samba. Instead, she turns it into a near a cappella minimalist dirge, Lars Danielsson's cello bringing to the rendition an unexpected eeriness and majesty. Terry Cox's "Moondog" is something else altogether, all jutting angles and piercing barbs, Ulf Wakenius' guitar and Xavier Desandre-Navarre's drums seemingly flailing willy-nilly behind Nah's warbles, yet somehow making perfect sense in the context of the arrangement, even when Nah breaks the solemnity with a jarring kazoo solo, of all things. For a real taste of her ability to knock a listener out cold, though, Wakenius' "Breakfast in Baghdad" is the place to go: to call Nah a scat singer is like calling John Coltrane a guy who fooled around a bit with the sax. Nah is a wildwoman let loose, treating each syllable as a new adventure in acrobatics, the musicians flying free and fancifully behind her captivating, seriously stunning ravings. Youn Sun Nah doesn't simply interpret; any good jazz signer can do that. She gets to the root of a melody and a lyric, deconstructs it wholly, and then presents it in a way it's never before been heard. Not many around who can do that anymore. Jeff Tamarkin
Styles and genres may vary from song to song, but it is always the "Same Girl" who transforms the pieces into a sound world that is unmistakably her own: Youn Sun Nah. ACT
Tracklist 1 :
1 My Favorite Things 4:00
Written-By – Oscar Hammerstein II, Richard Rogers
2 My Name Is Carnival 4:02
Written-By – Jackson C. Frank
3 Breakfast In Baghdad 5:56
Written-By – Ulf Wakenius
4 Uncertain Weather 3:22
Written-By – Youn Sun Nah
5 Song Of No Regrets 3:45
Written-By – Lani Hall, Sergio Mendes
6 Kangwondo Arirang 4:06
– Korean Traditional
7 Enter Sandman 4:52
Written-By – Metallica
8 Same Girl 4:14
Written-By – Randy Newman
9 Moondog 4:10
Written-By – Terry Cox
10 Pancake 3:36
Written-By – Youn Sun Nah
11 La Chanson D'Hélène 5:07
Narrator – Roland Brival
Written-By – Jean-Loup Dabadie, Philippe Sarde
Tracklist 2 :
1 Bitter Ballad 4:08
Trumpet – Mathias Eick
Written By – Youn Sun Nah
2 Avec Le Temps 5:06
Written By – Léo Ferré
3 Peace 4:02
Written By – Youn Sun Nah
4 Utviklingssang 6:05
Written By – Carla Bley
Video My Favorite Things 4:10
Credits :
Youn Sun Nah - Vocals, Kalimba, Music Box, Kazoo
Ulf Wakenius - Guitars
Lars Danielsson - Acoustic Bass, Cello
Xavier Desandre-Navarre - Percussion
Special guest on track 11: Roland Brival - Narration
2.12.24
YOUN SUN NAH 나윤선 — Same Girl (2010) 2CD | Collector's Edition | FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless
27.10.24
YOUN SUN NAH = 나윤선 — Lento (2013) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless
Singers who are able to shake up an entire genre are rare. Korean Youn Sun Nah is such a phenomenon, as "Lento" proves. "A miracle", "great art", "enchanting" or "world-class singing" is what the local press has said about the singer in recent years. ACT
Tracklist :
1 Lento 3:04
Written-By – Alexander Scriabin, Youn Sun Nah
2 Lament 3:40
Written-By – Youn Sun Nah
3 Hurt 5:22
Written-By – Nine Inch Nails
4 Empty Dream 4:20
Written-By – Vincent Peirani, Youn Sun Nah
5 Momento Magico 5:32
Written-By – Ulf Wakenius
6 Soundless Bye 3:44
Written-By – Youn Sun Nah
7 Full Circle 3:36
Written-By – Vincent Peirani, Youn Sun Nah
8 Ghost Riders In The Sky 4:58
Written-By – Stan Jones
9 Waiting 3:30
Written-By – Caecilie Norby, Lars Danielsson
10 Arirang 4:25
– Korean Traditional
11 New Dawn 3:42
Written-By – Youn Sun Nah
Credits :
Accordion, Melodica [Accordina] – Vincent Peirani
Bass, Cello – Lars Danielsson
Guitar [Guitars] – Ulf Wakenius
Percussion – Xavier Desandre-Navarre
Vocals – Youn Sun Nah
14.10.24
LARS DANIELSSON with Bugge Wesseltoft + Nils Petter Molvær — Mélange Bleu (2006) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless
Tracklist :
1 Mélange Bleu 3:59
Written-By, Arranged By – Lars Danielsson
2 Makro 5:29
Written-By, Arranged By – Lars Danielsson
Sampler [Beats & Samples] – Mario Basanov, Vytas Basanov
3 Les Coulisses 4:47
Written-By, Arranged By – Bugge Wesseltoft, Lars Danielsson
4 Ironside 7:39
Written-By, Arranged By – Lars Danielsson
Synthesizer – Gustaf Ljunggren
Voice – Caecilie Norby
5 Judas Bolero 19:49
Written-By, Arranged By – Lars Danielsson
6 Minor People 3:52
Written-By, Arranged By – Lars Danielsson
Piano [Solo] – Bugge Wesseltoft
7 Sketches Of Twelve 10:33
Written-By, Arranged By – Bugge Wesseltoft, Lars Danielsson
8 Naive 5:28
Written-By, Arranged By – Lars Danielsson
9 Bacchanalia 4:07
Written-By, Arranged By – Lars Danielsson
Electric Piano [Fender Rhodes] – Lars Danielsson
10 After Zero 4:17
Written-By, Arranged By – Lars Danielsson
Credits :
Lars Danielsson – Cello, Acoustic Bass, Fender Bass, Piano, Fender Rhodes
Bugge Wesseltoft – Piano
Nils Petter Molvær – Trumpet
Eivind Aarset – Guitar
Jon Christensen – Drums, Percussion
Anders Engen - Drums
Jan Bang – Samples, Livesampling
Pål ''Strangefruit'' Nyhus – Vinyl Channeling
Vytas & Mario Basanov – Beats & Samples
Cæcilie Norby - Voices
Gustaf Ljunggren – Steel Guitar, Syntheziser
Xavier Desandre Navarre - Percussion
10.10.24
YOUN SUN NAH 나윤선 — Voyage (2009) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless
"The discovery of the season... In jazz singing, we haven't encountered anything more colorful, intriguing, and virtuosic in a long time." - Süddeutsche Zeitung ACT
Tracklist :
1 Dancing With You 4:44
Written-By – Youn Sun Nah
2 The Linden 5:00
Written-By – Lars Danielsson, Lina Nyberg
3 Calypso Blues 4:06
Written-By – Don George, Nat King Cole
4 My Bye 4:25
Written-By – Natacha, Youn Sun Nah
5 Jockey Full Of Bourbon 3:42
Written-By – Tom Waits
6 Voyage 6:00
Written-By – Youn Sun Nah
7 Please, Don't Be Sad 3:46
Written-By – Youn Sun Nah
8 Shenandoah 4:32
Written-By – American Folk Song
9 Come, Come 3:31
Written-By – Youn Sun Nah
10 Frevo 5:17
Written-By – Egberto Gismonti
11 Inner Prayer 5:05
Written-By – Youn Sun Nah
12 India Song 4:58
Written-By – Carlos D'Alessio, Marguerite Duras
Credits :
Acoustic Bass, Cello, Melodica, Producer – Lars Danielsson
Guitar [Guitars] – Ulf Wakenius
Percussion – Xavier Desandre-Navarre
Trumpet – Mathias Eick
Vocals – Youn Sun Nah
+ last month
e.s.t. — Retrospective 'The Very Best Of e.s.t. (2009) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless
"Retrospective - The Very Best Of e.s.t." is a retrospective of the unique work of e.s.t. and a tribute to the late mastermind Esb...