Connie Evingson © Andrea Canter

A native of Hibbing in northern Minnesota’s Iron Range, Connie Evingson grew up listening to her father’s records of Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Joe Williams, Tony Bennett, Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, and later Peggy Lee and Shirley Horn. Influenced by these early muses as well as the musical icons of her generation (the Beatles, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Sting, Bonnie Raitt), Connie’s eclectic tastes were soon evident, from her first club gig was at the old Night Train in St. Paul to a brief stint with the Minnesota Vocal Jazz Ensemble before she joined Moore By Four in 1986. With Moore by Four, Connie performed and toured the world throughout the late 80s and 90s, often opening for the biggest stars in music. In the past decade, her career as a soloist has included six CDs for Minnehaha Music, her three most recent releases charting on Jazzweek's Top 50 for eight weeks each (Gypsy in My Soul reaching #8). Long regarded as among the top echelon of jazz artists in the Midwest and nominated as Jazz Week’s Vocalist of the Year in 2005, the release Stockholm Sweetnin’ will further awaken the world to Connie Evingson’s copious talents as singer, arranger, and lyricist.

The Sweden Connection

Gypsy in My Soul grew from an attraction to Django Reinhardt to an all-out revisiting of hot club repertoire, vocally translating gypsy jazz “standards” (“Caravan”, “I’m Confessin”) as well as jazz and rock classics (“Nature Boy,” “Lullaby of the Leaves,” Sting’s “Until”) never before given the hot club swing treatment. Noted Rick Mason of City Pages, “With her own delicious sense of swing, silken phrasing and sense of adventure, Evingson really nails Django's spirit on 'Gypsy', rummaging through his songbook (often with added lyrics) and other tunes that fit the mood…” Reaching #8 on the U.S. and Canadian radio charts and hanging in the “top 50” for eight weeks following its release, Gypsy in My Soul brought both the music of gypsy-style bands and the diverse talents of Connie Evingson to national attention.

But given Connie’s predeliction for taking divergent paths with each recording, a second hot club recording seemed unlikely. However, her continuing love affair with gypsy jazz and a chance meeting with a young hot club group from Sweden inspired her to first produce another album of songs in the Django style before moving in another direction. "I had already planned my next project (a collection of Dave Frishberg tunes, with Frishberg at the piano)," says Evingson, "but when I heard The Hot Club of Sweden, I realized I wasn't quite done with the genre."

It was a one-time gig with Sweden’s Uppsala Sextet on her home turf in Minneapolis that led Connie to record Stockholm Sweetnin' with the Hot Club of Sweden (www.hotclubdusuede.com). "Someone from the Uppsala Sextet took my CDs back to Sweden and gave them to a promoter, who booked me for a jazz festival in Uppsala. The promoter also happens to own a record label, and I noticed a CD by The Hot Club of Sweden in his catalog.” Of Swedish and Norwegian descent herself, Evingson was curious how gypsy jazz played in the land of ice and snow. "These days, there are gypsy jazz players all over the world, so I wasn't entirely surprised to hear there was a hot club group in Sweden. But when I heard their recording, I was floored. These guys are amazing. I decided I had to record with them.”

Initially, following email introductions and listening to Gypsy in My Soul, “the group agreed that, since they had never met me in person, doing a record with me might be a bit crazy,” says Connie. “At the same time, it seemed right, and everyone was game.” After trading more emails and song selection ideas, Evingson traveled to Stockholm, recording 15 tunes in 2 1/2 days with a band she just met. "The process was seamless," she said. "It's the easiest, most enjoyable time I've ever had in the studio. It was magic, really". And it was also an opportunity for Connie to explore her Scandinavian roots. "It's funny, but as much traveling as I've done, I'd never been to Scandinavia…I suppose I thought it was too much like home", she laughs. “Of course, Sweden isn't exactly like Minnesota, but there are a lot of things that are similar - you recognize a lot of names, for one thing - and there are similarities in values and attitudes. I saw the lineage of a lot of cultural things I grew up with. Also, the people are great. Very warm, friendly and fun-loving.”

Stockholm Sweetin’

On Stockholm Sweetnin', Connie digs deeper into the hot club genre and the results are both stunning and uniquely Connie. Instead of American musicians interpreting a European aesthetic (as on Gypsy in My Soul), Stockholm Sweetin' features European players steeped in the Django tradition and in all styles of jazz originating in America-- Hot Club du Suede guitarists Gustav Lundgren and Andreas Oberg, along with bandmate and bassist Hampus Lundgren. Guest artists from both sides of the Atlantic add their unique voices, but the most distinctive voice belongs to Connie, as vocalist, arranger, and lyricist (on Oberg's “Autumn in Kokkola”). Who but Connie Evingson would imagine the hot club potential of the Qunicy Jones/Jon Hendricks gem, “Stockholm Sweetin',” Abbey Lincoln's “Throw it Away” or Michel Legrand's "Windmills of Your Mind"?

Connie Evingson © Andrea Canter

Of the fifteen tracks that fill Stockholm Sweetin’, six are familiar hot club repertoire. “If I Had You,” “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love,” and “Out of Nowhere” were often performed by Django himself; Ellington, a Django favorite, is beautifully represented by “In a Sentimental Mood,” while another ballad from Reinhardt’s songbook, a Spanish tinged “Lover Man,” features young Swedish saxman Fredrik Lindborg. An old and swinging tune, “After You’ve Gone” puts the spotlight on Minnesota hot club clarinetist, Tony Baluf. Connie notes that she learned Basie’s “Swingin’the Blues” by endlessly listening to a Lambert, Hendricks and Ross record (Sing a Song of Basie) as a child. Here Connie brings scat to the hot club rhythm and the ensemble’s impeccable timing creates a real blend of all “instruments.”

Enriched by translation to gypsy swing, Quincy Jones’ and Jon Hendricks’ “Stockholm Sweetnin'” bursts with slick guitar licks and a final chorus in which voice and strings sing like a choir; the 40s classic “Comes Love,” with the sultry addition of Baluf’s clarinet, also benefits from its first hot club rendition. Dan Chouniard’s accordion and Connie’s clear articulation are essential to the success of Legrand’ “Windmills of My Mind” in its hot club debut, performed here as a musette (French café waltz). Perhaps the most unusual choice for this collection is Abbey Lincoln’s “Throw It Away,” less dark in this style than its usual presentation and highlighting the talented percussion of Marc Anderson.

Connie with the Parisota Hot Club © Andrea Canter

Two tracks display Connie Evingson’s talents as a multi-lingual artist. “Bésame Mucho,” sung in Spanish, more often played as a hot club instrumental, breathes Latin color and charm, thanks in part to Joan Griffith’s introduction on Spanish acoustic guitar. “Si Tu Savais” by Georges Ulmer is another popular hot club instrumental given new life through Connie’s vocals, this time in French, transporting the listener to a small Paris café. The closing track is the beautiful original (music by Oberg, lyrics by Evingson), “Autumn in Kokkola,” evoking a coastal town in Finland where bonfires and lanterns mark the end of summer and the coming of the dark season. Although the lyrics are in English, one nevertheless expects to hear Connie break into Swedish at any moment.

And with the completion of this second hot club project, those familiar with Connie Evingson have to anticipate change in the air. That Frishberg project? It’s scheduled for release this fall.

Stockholm Sweetnin’ will be celebrated July 5-9 in Seattle at Jazz Alley, where Connie Evingson will perform with Seattle-based hot club band Pearl Django. The Twin Cities celebration wil be held at the Dakota in Minneapolis, July 26-27. Stockholm Sweetnin’ is available at CD Baby and other retail outlets, and from Connie’s website at www.connieevingson.com

---

Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites