SINNE EEG & JACOB CHRISTOFFERSON, Shikiori

The release of Shikiori, the sparsely and exquisitely arranged, uniquely titled first ever duo album by Sinne Eeg and her longtime pianist Jacob Christofferson, comes on the heels of an important international milestone for the celebrated Danish jazz vocalist.

A few months before its release, she was awarded the French Order of Arts and Letters, an accolade given to greats like David Bowie and Meryl Streep. Eeg may not be the household name those two are, but her contributions to the arts over the decades are quite impactful and influential. Shikiori may be the first jazz collection in recent memory to have liner notes written by the owner of the exotic property, bassist Seigo Matsunaga, that hosted this dynamic live recording session.

Once owned by Seigo’s grandmother, the 150-year-old traditional home is a spiritual musician’s dream, graced with a Shinto altar, an aged piano and many other touches conducive to a fusion of tradition, craft and the communion of artists. Twelve years after Sinne, Jacob and several other musicians first visited the property, they draw on the inspiration of the sacred space to create several of the 12 track set’s most emotionally compelling pieces.

These include the elegant, lyrical “Soba Flower,” an ode to Christoffson’s love for those noodles that features Sinne performing beautifully phrased Japanese lyrics penned by Remi; the coda tune “Soba,” a version of the same piece featuring equally gorgeous wordless vocals; and “Hebi,” an graceful, ethereal ballad (also lyric-free) titled after the Japanese word for “snake,” i.e. a musical reflection of a snake wandering slowly through the grass.

The rest of the repertoire, while a bit less exotic, offers charmingly and emotionally rendered renditions of Great American Songbook classics (from a playful, scat-filled twist on Gershwins’ “But Not For Me” to a heartfelt rare female perspective on “Maria), an intensely soaring take on Annie Lennox’s “Cold” and “Losing You,” the heartbreaking ballad that paves the way for all the Sinne and Jacob’s powerful dual magic throughout.