Jazz - STUCD08082

With "The Love List", her first release for adults since 1999, Kaya Brüel takes status of where she stands right now. This collection features songs that she has brought with her from various places and stages in her personal life and career: Originals, jazz standards, the title track from the movie "Veninder" – and songs written with Kaya in mind by Tom Waits for the play "Woycek", which toured all over the world.

An extensive career
Kaya Brüel is an actress and vocalist. At present she is active in both fields; playing Ingeborg in the musical Matador to open May 17th in Copenhagen’s Opera House, and releasing a new album. Previously, she has recorded for both children and adults, but this is her first selection of jazz songs. She explains, "After many years as an actor in music theater, singing tunes others have chosen exactly the way they feel, they should be sung, it became essential for me to create an album all my own." The personal approach is apparent in her interpretations of the songs from Woycek: In the play, Tom Waits had very clear ideas of how he wanted the songs to be performed. Now we hear Kaya interpret them rather than her character in the play.

An old-fashioned recording
The whole album was recorded in a few days, everything at the same time. The idea was to choose the take with the right feeling. In other words, Kaya’s new CD is a good old-fashioned record. "Recording like this, the musicians and vocalist follow each other. If I pause for a second to take a breath, the musicians automatically respond, and it becomes part of the music. We accompany each other through the tunes, and feel the same joy of playing together, that one experiences on stage", says Kaya, who hopes that this joy will reach out of the speakers.

It runs in the family
Kaya Brüel has music in her genes. Her mother and aunt, Sanne and Rebecca Brüel, are well-known Danish songwriters, musicians and singers, and her grandparents and great-grandparents were composers and performers. Kaya has recorded a CD of her great-grandfather’s songs for children, "Jeg fandt en sang pa vejen".

This album shows Kaya Brüel following in the footsteps of one ancestor in particular. Those of her grandmother, Birgit Brüel, Denmark’s perhaps most acclaimed and famous jazz vocalist, recently re-released on two CD’s. Kaya wishes she could play this CD for her grandmother, especially her version of "My Funny Valentine". When she was a teenager, Kaya sang the tune for her, and she responded by telling her granddaughter not to hesitate pursuing a career in jazz. At the time, Kaya did not feel ready, but now the time has come, "I have the experience and insight to offer a personal interpretation", she says.

Track Listing:

1. My Funny Valentine
2. Still Around
3. Lullaby
4. A Good Man is Hard to Find
5. You Go to My Head
6. Fortune of Love
7. Feminine Wiles
8. What a Waste
9. Make a New Strat
10. Waves of Joy
11. Lose to Lose