Reviews
Emilia Martensson and Barry Green
And So It Goes…
Babel
20/2/ 2012
By John Fordham
The Guardian 23rd
February 2012
UK-resident Swedish singer Emilia Martensson made
an impact in 2010 on Kairos 4Tet's popular debut Kairos Moment, but although
her duo with pianist Barry Green is comparatively new, this set (covering
Jacques Brel, Egberto Gismonti, James Taylor, Schumann and more) makes them
sound like old hands embraced. Martensson invests every sound with a skimming,
rapturous lightness and clarity, and Green demonstrates a cool individuality
within familiar Bill Evans-to-Jarrett territory. Schumann's Ich Grolle Nichte
is recast as I Won't Regret (the original lyric is "I do not chide you,
though my heart breaks"), with Green dabbing shy chords under Martensson's
weaving line. Taylor's Something in
the Way She Moves glimmers with his typical soft sheen; Peter Gabriel's
gospelly Washing of the Water is a haunting duet with Ben Davis's cello; and
the dark presence of Julian Siegel's bass clarinet on Gismonti's Palhaco is a
shrewd tonal contrast. It's often eclectically folksy, but Martensson can also
be a graceful, Stacey Kent-like performer, as she shows on Esbjörn Svensson's
Waltz for the Lonely Ones and the swinger The Best Man.
By Dave Kelly
The Observer 19th February 2012
Her voice may be soft and light, but there is nothing limp
or vague about Emilia Martensson's singing. In her gentle way, she is among the
most incisive of today's crop of impressive young vocalists. She also has a
dauntingly wide and adventurous repertoire, taking in Jacques Brel, Nat King
Cole and folk songs from her native Sweden
– and that's where Barry Green comes in. A pianist of immense delicacy, he also
swings with real style. This could grow into a classic partnership. Listen out,
too, for some terrific bass clarinet from guest soloist Julian Siegel.
Listen / download from bandcamp http://babel-label.bandcamp.com/album/and-so-it-goes
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