Susanne Abbuehl

In her albums of sung poetry, Susanne Abbuehl grants words room to move. For her, “setting verse” implies more than the pinning of a poem’s cadences to a fixed arrangement. On The Gift, as on the earlier recordings April and Compass, she insinuates herself inside the texts, explores their inner rhythms and their melodies and meanings, and sets them free to gently float and sway. The approach is beautifully realized on this third ECM album by the Swiss-Dutch singer, recorded in the South of France in the summer of 2012 with, perhaps, the most responsive band she has yet led. As with the earlier discs, Manfred Eicher produced the recording.

PERSONNEL:

SUSANNE ABBUEHL, voice
MATTHIEU MICHEL, flugelhorn
WOLFERT BREDERODE, piano, indian harmonium
OLAVI LOUHIVUORI, drums, percussion

July 30 – August 1, 2012 at Studios La Buisonne / Pernes-les-Fontainesk


TRACKS:
01. The Cloud
02. This And My Heart
03. If Bees Are Few
04. My River Runs To You
05. Ashore At Least
06. Forbidden Fruit
07. By Day, By Night
08. A Slash Of Blue
09. Wild Nights
10. In My Room
11. Bind Me
12. Soon (Five Years Ago)
13. Fall, Leaves, Fall
14. Sepal
15. Shadows On Shadows
16. This And My Heart, var.