Hanna Paulsberg Concept & Elin Rosseland – Himmel over Hav

A little like John Coltrane, who modified his playing when he added Johnny Hartman’s voice to his quartet, Hanna Paulsberg invites a singer to join her Concept group for the first time, and here too the saxophonist’s playing acquires an unusual gentleness.

But that’s where the parallel ends. For while Hartman was a crooner who didn’t improvise, and the repertoire the band played consisted entirely of standards, it is the saxophonist’s compositions to which Elin Rosselandads her vocals, which are of an altogether different nature to those of the American vocalist.

Indeed Rosseland, a 60-something legend in her homeland, is used to tackling adventurous music. So, it’s understandable that her 30-something compatriot was keen to invite an elder whose talents she knew and appreciated.

The singer expresses herself mainly in onomatopoeia, and is very convincingly in tune with the aesthetics of the leader’s Concept, to which she adds a new color with her melodically intense vocals.

So, this is not an album of an accompanied singer, but rather an extension of Hanna Paulsberg‘s instrumental universe, whose usual partners clearly welcome this new voice. The saxophonist’s solos have a vocal quality that blends magnificently with the singer’s warm timbre. It’s a wonderful encounter between this leading Norwegian jazz group and a vocalist who clearly takes great pleasure in confronting her younger contemporaries.