German jazz vocalist Lisa Bassenge completes her trilogy of trio albums, again with Jacob Karlzon on piano and Andreas Lang on bass - same as on her previous albums 'Borrowed and Blue' (2018) and 'Mothers' (2020).
Eleven songs, seemingly chosen at random and yet resulting in a completely rounded album: 'Wildflowers' covers a range that stretches from Dolly Parton to Depeche Mode, from Bob Dylan to Death Cab for Cutie. Plus Lisa Bassenge's subtle, melancholic original composition "Morning Song". The way the trio arranges and performs them, these individual pieces don't seem to be thrown together, but rather like chapters of a story. Each one shimmers on its own, but the ensemble is more than the sum of its parts.
This also applies to the trio itself. The two musicians - Jacob Karlzon from Sweden and Andreas Lang from Denmark - embed Lisa Bassenge's unique voice in a warm sound that is 'Scandinavian' in the best sense of the word: relaxed, but always engaging; playful, dynamic, full of subtle energy. "This sound has found us", says Lisa Bassenge. And on 'Wildflowers', the three have brought it to perfection. Every single bar of the album testifies to the incredible chemistry between the singer and the musicians.
What also connects the songs is the quality of the lyrics. All of them are poetic pieces of existential depth, and Lisa Bassenge's haunting interpretation and crystal-clear phrasing turn them into powerful mind games.
Is this jazz, is it pop, is it chanson? With 'Wildflowers', the Lisa Bassenge trio once again confidently demonstrates how fluid the boundaries between supposedly very different genres are. This music doesn't need a tag. It's all about the beauty and the truth of the songs.