SIRIL MALMEDAL HAUGE You might not be able to tell from the video of "River" above (or the video below, for that matter), but Siril Malmedal Hauge is, first and foremost, a Jazz vocalist. What you can tell from "River" is that she's a great vocalist. Hailing from Norway (currently living in Oslo) and still in her mid-20s, Siril has already conquered Scandanavia and her popularity is spreading to Germany and the Baltic states. A graduate of the Jazz program at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Siril loves to collaborate with other artists. Between her own releases (solo and group) and her appearances on the records of others, she's been extremely prolific over the past few years. So it's good that she's finding the time to record a Christmas album, which will be released this December (expect it to take a while to reach the states).
Siril's coming Christmas effort will be with Jul På Sunnmørsk, a seasonal group/project she's been involved with for several years. Jul På Sunnmørsk has been described as five young musicians brought together "by a common love for Jazz, Sunday, and Christmas spirit." Since 2014, they've played a series of mostly small venues (primarily in Sunnmøre, Norway) in the month of December, interpreting Christmas songs old and new, familiar and lesser known. The as yet untitled Christmas album is expected to see release at the kickoff of this year's Sunnmøre performances.
Siril's coming Christmas effort will be with Jul På Sunnmørsk, a seasonal group/project she's been involved with for several years. Jul På Sunnmørsk has been described as five young musicians brought together "by a common love for Jazz, Sunday, and Christmas spirit." Since 2014, they've played a series of mostly small venues (primarily in Sunnmøre, Norway) in the month of December, interpreting Christmas songs old and new, familiar and lesser known. The as yet untitled Christmas album is expected to see release at the kickoff of this year's Sunnmøre performances.
Jul på Sunnmørsk If you asked me which records and CDs in my collection I'd least want to part with, it'd be tough to choose. But I'd probably say it's my international albums (that or the local artist ones). The international section of my library isn't all that large, but the records and CDs therein are both wondrous and nearly impossible to replace. Every year, I try to target at least one record from a faraway land that is unlikely to ever see a stateside release. Among their number are albums from Lisa Ono (Japan/Brazil), Tarja Turunen (Finland), Mans Zelmerlow (Sweden), The Bloomfields (Philippines), and numerous compilations from Germany, France, Spain, Japan and Australia. Greece, Italy, assorted African nations, The Netherlands, and Ukraine are also represented. The music ranges from Punk Rock to Jazz, from Country to MOR. And many of these are among my Must Listen albums each Christmas. I'm considering targeting the coming release from Siril Malmedal Hauge this year, but its too early to make that call. Plus I think I'd like to preview some of it first. As prolific as Siril has been, she's also been diverse. But she's at her best (based upon what I've sampled through YouTube and Amazon) doing deep Jazz. What I'd like to hear is a Christmas album that sounds like Siril's Nordic Circles' project "Under The Clouds". That album is breathtaking and pure Jazz. So far, the only thing I have to gauge Jul På Sunnmørsk on is one YouTube video of "Winter Wonderland" (sung in Norwegian), which is fine and quite Jazzy, but not quite breathtaking.
Jul På Sunnmørsk, featuring Siril Malmedal Hauge, performing "Winter Wonderland" in 2014, appears below. But first up is a track from another of Siril's projects, Lillebror, a group devoted to interpreting the songs, poems and short stories of Norwegian legend Alf Prøysen. "Julepresangen" translates to "Christmas Presents". Lillebror's eponymous album (not a Christmas album overall) is available digitally through Amazon.
Jul På Sunnmørsk, featuring Siril Malmedal Hauge, performing "Winter Wonderland" in 2014, appears below. But first up is a track from another of Siril's projects, Lillebror, a group devoted to interpreting the songs, poems and short stories of Norwegian legend Alf Prøysen. "Julepresangen" translates to "Christmas Presents". Lillebror's eponymous album (not a Christmas album overall) is available digitally through Amazon.
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