A jazzy evening

I never knew Burt Bacharach could sound like this! That was my reaction after a concert at Norway's new National Jazz Stage, Cosmopolite here in Oslo. The Swedish singer Rigmor Gustafsson rocked, or rather jazzed the house with smooth, interesting, challenging and great versions of Burt Bacharach’s songs and old hits by Dionne Warwick. I never knew "Close to you" or "Raindrops keep falling on my head" could sound like jazz standards. Her musicians brought the songs to new heights: Jacky Terrasson, Sean Smith and Eric Harland made yesterday's evening an interesting one. Yesterday I understood once more how much jazz is about articulation and holding back. In "Close to you" she held back every word, and you could really sense how all the girls in town really, really wanted to be close to that guy :) . Yesterday was Rigmor's first concert in Oslo; I hope it's not her last! Today I bought her album at iTunes, so I guess she'll be with me the next weeks. Here's Rigmor through my lens:


Rigmor Gustafsson and Jacky Terrasson Trio in Concert, Cosmopolite Oslo, September 2005 (Both photos: Norwegianblogger)