Jeanette Lindström
New album – Queen on the Hillside
You were the Queen of the Mountain
You were the Mistress of forest and stream
You made me run on the Hillside
You made me move a mountain
Because you never gave in
( from the lyrics of "Queen on the Hillside" by Jeanette Lindström )
How do we become who we are? Those who go before us, what do they pass on to us? Do we inherit something? What does a role model, an early source of inspiration, mean?
In the title track on her new album Queen on the Hillside, dedicated to her grandmothers and to those who have gone before, Jeanette Lindström explores what it means to have someone who sets the example to never give up, and at the same time conveys lust, the courage to dream and the freedom to create something of your own. Finding your own way.
That Jeanette has found her own musical path is obvious. With Swedish Grammis winner Attitude & Orbit Control (2009) she had taken yet another step towards an expression and a sound that was already more than hinted at in her previous albums Walk (2003) and In the Middle of this Riddle (2005). A music still rooted in jazz but with an increasingly elaborate production and arrangements pointing towards pop music and a much heavier sound.
Attitude & Orbit Control was a milestone in more than one way, not least for the collaboration with the legendary Robert Wyatt who came to collaborate on five of the album's tracks. Jeanette Lindström and Magnus Öström's fruitful producer collaboration also meant a lot for the final result. That the album eventually was rewarded with the Grammis for best jazz album of the year 2010 was a well-deserved ending of a very memorable journey.
The new album, Queen on the Hillside, her seventh full-length album in her own name, is bursting with original music. Eleven tracks with music and lyrics from Jeanette Lindström's pen. Songs with strong melodies in intricate and airy production with meaningful lyrics. And then that magical voice that always so congenially presents them.
This time around Jeanette Lindström has chosen to produce herself. With Fingerspitzengefühl she has carefully chosen musicians to colour each song as required. She is backed by her own band; Jonas Östholm, piano and keyboards, Andreas Hourdakis, guitars, Thobias Gabrielson, electric bass and Magnus Öström, drums and electronics, but we also hear Steve Dobrogosz and Daniel Karlsson on piano, Dan Berglund on double bass, Rigmor Gustafsson, vocals, John Eriksson and Pelle Jacobsson, marimba and the Stenhammar Quartet in string arrangements by Per Mårtensson, Karl-Johan Ankarblom and Jeanette Lindström herself.
Together with her band and these guest musicians, Jeanette Lindström takes another big step on her own path.
“Lindström sings in such a way as to invite the listener into her own world. Like waking up on a warm summer day, welcomed by birds singing. It’s a world full of depth, dimension and beauty.”
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Jazzreview.com
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JEANETTE LINDSTRÖM is the singer that once prompted legendary producer Quincy Jones to voice the portentous words: “An old soul in a young singer”, and also: “She really understands what jazz is all about!”. Today Jeanette Lindström is one of Sweden’s most prized jazz singers, but at the same time she has never been opposed to stepping outside of the borders of jazz.
The priorities are her own band and her own compositions. Composing and performing her own material, both music and lyrics, has always played a central role in Jeanette’s musicianship. Throughout the years Jeanette has also worked in other bands and projects and appeared on several occasions as a featured vocalist with renowned jazz groups, big bands, chamber orchestras and symphony orchestras.
Jeanette Lindström has always been an artist keen to tour and her travels have brought her to many parts of the world, the Nordic countries as well as France, Belgium, UK, Japan and Canada. France and Canada have come to be something of second home countries to Jeanette, and her latest albums have also found their way to the hearts of the French record-buying public.
After being awarded the “Jazz In Sweden”-prize Jeanette recorded her debut CD, Another Country, on the Caprice record label in 1995. This recording was followed by yet another on the same label in 1997, called I Saw You. In 1998 she recorded and toured with Norrbotten Big Band led by trumpeter Tim Hagans in collaboration with pianist Kenny Werner, resulting in a CD featuring music by Kurt Weill as well as repertoire associated with Frank Sinatra, which was released in 1999. For several years Jeanette worked in a duo along with pianist Steve Dobrogosz. In 2000 they released a CD called Feathers (Prophone Records). She has also toured and recorded with bass player Anders Jormin (Once, Dragon records 1997).
The CD Walk was released in 2003, marking the start of a new collaboration with the Amigo record label, and in 2005 the album In The Middle Of This Riddle was released. These two consists mainly of her own compositions, and were unanimously praised by both press and audiences. The album Whistling Away the Dark was recorded and released in 2006, and was also very warmly received. That is her first standard album in her own name, and just like her previous two albums for the Amigo label, the new album was recorded at the famed Atlantis studio in Stockholm.
The song Leaf from In The Middle of This Riddle was remixed in 2007 by the famous American DJ and producer King Britt, and was exclusively released on iTunes Europe. Another track from the same album was featured on the Saint-Germain des Pres Café – “Ladies in Nu Jazz” – Volume 7, alongside tracks with Norah Jones, Beaudy Belle, Jamie Cullum, Susi Hyldgaard and others.
In the fall of 2008 she signed with the Swedish independent label Playground Music Scandinavia/Diesel Music, and her album Attitude & Orbit Control was released by them in October 2009. On this space odyssey of sorts, her fellow travellers included co-writing guest vocalist Robert Wyatt, a whole new band and new co-producer and drummer Magnus Öström of e.s.t. as well as lyrics contributor Sidsel Endresen. In January 2010, Jeanette received a Swedish Grammis for Attitude & Orbit Control in the Jazz category at the Grammis Awards in Stockholm.