Miss ANNA MJÖLL,
"Iceland's First Lady of Jazz" returns to Herb Alpert's VIBRATO in Bel
Air, California, Friday, January 25th 2014!
This event is a near-guaranteed sellout, timely reservations are strongly recommended.
Miss Mjöll, accompanied by the amazing Pat Senatore Trio, will be
singing the songs of Ella Fitzgerald, Astrud Gilberto, Edith Piaf,
Billie Holiday, Marilyn Monroe and more...
Vibrato Grill Jazz…etc.
2930 Beverly Glen Circle
Bel Air, CA 90077
Call (310) 474-9400 for reservations.
https://vibrato.herbalpertpresents.com/
The brainchild of seven-time Grammy winner Herb Albert, Vibrato Grill
Jazz … etc. blends the rich elements of world-renowned jazz, art and
gourmet cuisine for an evening to remember. The restaurant is owned by
Pasadena’s Smith Brothers Restaurant group (Parkway Grill, Arroyo Chop
House and Smitty’s Grill) and serves an exquisite menu of American
contemporary dishes. Must tries include the dessert menu’s warm
bittersweet chocolate truffle cake, chocolate glazed butterscotch
pudding, caramel apple pie and Meyer lemon tart. Located at the top of
Mulholland Drive and Beverly Glen Circle, Vibrato Grill Jazz … etc.’s
sophisticated jazz sounds and the deliciously fragrant food will lure
you in from all over the city.
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Iceland's Anna Mjöll grew up in one of her country's leading musical
families, eventually representing Iceland in the famed Eurovision Song
Contest. She then joined the band of Julio Iglesias, touring worldwide
before setting out on her own career as a jazz singer and songwriter.
Mjöll has quietly built a following around L.A. over the past two years,
becoming one of the only vocalists to be a regular at the classy
Vibrato supper club. Mjöll's striking beauty and often-breathtaking
dresses combine with singing talent that's recently drawn praise from
jazz luminaries including George Duke, Don Heckman and Dave Weckl. Add
Mjöll's penchant for offbeat humor and a running dialogue with the
audience, and you might find yourself wondering how long it'll be before
she's headlining somewhere in Las Vegas — Sir Tom Jones is already a
frequent guest at her shows in town.
-Tom Meek, LA Weekly
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"Sunday night, Santa Monica. Last Sunday night I was having a really
good time, sitting in the Baked Potato, halfway between Hollywood and
the Valley, and listening to jazz singer Anna Mjoll perform with her
really good band. I wish I could be doing the same thing tonight, but
it’s a much longer drive to her gig. She’s playing in Reykjavik. Yeah,
Iceland. She’s closer to the ocean there... than she was in the Valley.
But she’s a lot closer to the Arctic Circle too.
Why in the
world would a jazz singer book herself into a small club in an island
nation with one fifth the population of the San Fernando Valley?
Because she’s home for the holidays.
Anna Mjoll is not much of what you usually picture as a jazz singer.
Few of her performance photos show her in a dress. More likely you’ll
get what I saw at the Potato: strategically very torn jeans, punkish
spiked bracelets, stylish “armlet” tattoo, leather half-vest and a thin
leather headband holding in place her long golden (really, really
golden) locks, white-toed black tennies (but no candy cane-striped knee
socks this time), and centerfold-class beauty and figure. Her idea of
patter is to regale you with odd and gory anecdotes (decapitation,
burger breath). I wonder if she dresses up a little at home? Keeps the
stories a little more conventional, with mom and dad in the crowd?
Probably not.
Mjoll seems very comfortable on stage, like she was born there (almost
true), comfortable in her own skin and very comfortable with her
material and her inimitable delivery of it. She has a barely detectable
accent, but it does make her sound just a little different from everyone
else, in a charming way.
Her band was absolutely stellar. She
always seems to attract really good players. (“Jazzmaz” features an
enviable cast in Vinnie Colaiuta, Don Grusin, Luis Conte, Charlie
Bisharat, and the late and very missed Dave Carpenter, as well as
Mjoll’s talented father Olafur Gaukur producing, arranging and on
guitar.) At the Spud she had Mike Miller on guitar, John Gilutin on
keys, Ian Martin on bass and Gerry Brown on drums, impressive
chops-meisters and cookin’ this night. A real treat was provided when
Reggie Hamilton sat in for a few on bass, even though he had literally
just flown in from Europe and went straight to the club. His solo
excursions alone were worth the price of admission.
Her show
was very similar to the excellent one I saw a few weeks earlier at
Charlie O’s, including the stories, but it nagged at me that there was
some missing piece this night. Then she gets to the very last number,
“Blue Skies” (except for an ill-advised bowing to a persistent request
for “Route 66” – ya gotta end high and leave ‘em wanting more). She goes
to town with energized scatting throughout, and it jumps out that this
was the one, where Anna Mjoll was in her element and shining. She had
done some scatting in previous numbers, but not much, not as much as at
Charlie O’s. I don’t think it was just the scatting that made the
difference, but it was definitely tied to that.
**********************
You don’t listen to Christmas music for weeks before the day now, do
you? The last week before Christmas is prime time for me, enough to get
the spirit but not to OD. So the timing is perfect to download Anna
Mjoll’s “Christmas Jazzmaz,” at CDBaby.com. I like the last four songs
the best because they’re sung in Icelandic, and the “Santa Baby” is
probably the sexiest and most fun version you’ll ever hear."
-Charles Andrews
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Christmas CD of the Year
Anna Mjöll: "Christmas Jazzmaz" (Tónaljón) 2010
Music performance: *****
Sound quality: *****
Featuring: Vinnie Colaiuta (drums), Ólafur Gaukur (acoustic &
electric guitars), Dave Carpenter (bass), Don Grusin (piano &
keyboards), Luis Conte (percussion) and Charlie Bisharat (violin).
...
"In a few words? OK. The most charming and enchanting songstress in the
current jazz scene has released the best "Christmas album" of this
century.
Really? Yes, absolutely!!! Throughout the years,
dozens of jazz artists have issued Christmas projects. Most recently,
back in 2005, Diana Krall released the excellent "Christmas Songs" CD,
with a big budget production directed by Tommy LiPuma and the impeccable
backing of the Clayton/Hamilton Jazz Orchestra. No surprises to be
found, though. The typical Christmas tunes with nice vocals and
predictable arrangements.
Five years later we get Anna Mjöll's
"Christmas Jazzmaz." What a difference! Surprises abound on each track.
Backed by a small group, with smart scores by producer Ólafur Gaukur
(who happens to be Anna's father, and is a guitarist whose touch and
phrasing on the acoustic instrument reminds me of Luiz Bonfa's approach
on the 12-string guitar), the LA-based Icelandic Jazz Princess delivers
fresh and creative performances of such songs as "Have Yourself a Merry
Little Christmas," "Winter Wonderland," "Sleigh Ride," "The Christmas
Song" and "White Christmas."
Even the opener "Jingle Bells"
sounds intriguing and -- I know it will be hard to believe -- "new".
Actually, I had to hold my breath during the first five songs, since
"Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let is snow" is a pure delight and I can't
find words to express my feelings for her "Santa Baby." Do yourself a
favor and listen. Never a vocal Christmas jazz albums sounded so
charming and ...seductive! Anna's phrasing and the highly personal tone
of her silky "innocent" voice (the missing link between Bjork and
Blossom Dearie) are pure delight. And again: so far, the best Christmas
CD of this century. Happy Holidays!"
To order a CD copy or a digital download:
http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/annamjoll2
- Arnaldo DeSouteiro
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"Do yourself a favor and catch her now, at an intimate small club, before she breaks out into larger venues."
-Charles Andrews, Music Forums Moderator, HomeTheaterSpot.com
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"Icelandic jazz vocalist Anna Mjöll has developed a considerable buzz
in L.A. selling out every night of recent weekend shows at Vibrato."
-Tom Meek, LA Jazz.com
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"Anytime you can sip a drink in a cool jazz club and be close to an
excellent combo fronted by an excellent singer... who scats -- life is
good.
Had that pleasure last night as I checked out a FaceBook
"friend" who was singing at Charlie O's in the valley (LA). I don't know
much about her but Anna Mjoll said she has backed up some big pop names
like Julio Iglesias on tour and in the studio, and her mother was a
jazz singer back home in Iceland. So that makes two Icelander jazz
singers at least, when I might've previously guessed, oh, zero. I
wouldn't have thought of it, but shouldn't be surprised either --
Scandinavia has produced some outstanding jazz musicians (though few
vocalists -- I can't name any), and Iceland, though tiny, is part of
Scandinavia.
I get the impression she's fairly recently made
the career transition from pop to jazz (and has a CD out, recorded here
and mixed in Reykjavik) but she has the genes and the predilection for
jazz vocalese. She may not have the range of an Ella (who does?) but
she's got the feel for it, and that's more important. I've heard it the
other way around, fantastic vocal instrument but no sympatico, and it
gets old quickly. Singing jazz requires a soulful connection to the
material, and Mjoll's got it.
She's relaxed and professional on
stage, because she's got the material nailed. She gives each song a
personal, distinctive touch. She doesn't try to re-invent the standards,
but she inhabits them evocatively. I got there for the last set and
wished I'd heard more, and I'm the kind of "sampler" who often "gets it"
and splits. But even though she was calling out numbers from a songbook
("let's do #55..."), it sounded like she had played with the John Heard
Trio for ages.
Do yourself a favor and catch her now, at an intimate small club, before she breaks out into larger venues.
-Charles Andrews
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"Someone recently referred to Anna's new CD, recorded in California and
mixed in Reykjavik, as "a must have by the sweetest woman and singer
this side of Iceland!"
I must add: a must have by the sweetest voice in the current jazz scene. Period."
"Shadow..." features the LA-based Icelandic jazz diva surrounded by an all-star band led by her lucky arranger/producer/guitarist
Ólafur Gaukur: drummers Vinnie Colaiuta (the current drummer's drummer
all over the world) & John "JR" Robinson (Quincy Jones' favorite
drummer ever, with Micahel Jackson's "Thriller" on his impressive
discography), bassists Dave Carpenter & Neil Stubenhaus, keyboardist
Don Grusin and percussionist Luis Conte, whom I first met when he was
playing on Madonna's "Blond Ambition" tour. In some tracks - "I Get A
Kick Out ofv You", "C'est Si Bon" and "Fever" -,
After repeated
listenings, "Shadow..." evokes me memories of Peggy Lee, Astrud
Gilberto and specially Blossom Dearie. Anyway, despite all these
mentioned references echoing on my mind, Anna Mjoll sounds like her own
woman, capable to enchant and fascinate the listener with highly
personal interpretations of top-class songs.
The rhythm section
changes on Johnny Mandel's classic "The Shadow of Your Smile," but once
again Anna's approach is unique and amazing, intertwined with Ólafur
Gaukur's 12-string acoustic guitar a la Luiz Bonfa.
She knows
how to caress a melody and seduce the listener, like happens throughout
the album. Another highlight, "Fever," firstly made famous by Peggy Lee
and later revived by Madonna, is a singing lesson in the sense of how to
make each and every word sound with the proper impact and feeling.
Don Grusin's piano floats in perfect empathy with Anna's milky vocals
on Burt Bacharach's "The Look of Love." Don't lose your time trying to
compare her with Dionne Warwick or Diana Krall. Mjoll's once again
sounds ultra-peculiar.
A latin-tinged arrangement of the French
classic "C'est Si Bon" follows, featuring the horn section and Conte on
percussion. Anna's sounds, to use French words, "coquette et sensuel." A
beautiful original by Gaukur, "Saman Bú Og Ég" (the composer solos on
the electric guitar while backing himself on the 12-string acoustic
guitar), and two Antonio Carlos Jobim tunes complete the repertoire. The
arangements includes a lovely guitar-wordless vocal solo section. Her
phrasing would make Jobim proud.
A surprising mood also
envolves "Água de Beber," sung in Portuguese. Both Jobim songs, also
appear as bonus tracks on Icelandic versions written by the
multi-talented Gaukur.
"Shadow of Your Smile" is by far one of
the best vocal jazz releases of 2009. Gifted with an abysmal potential,
no one can accuse Anna Mjoll's of musical compliance. This wondrous girl
(all the great booklet pics were shot on location in Iceland by Ess)
knows how to take chances.
-ARNALDO DESOUTEIRO
