viktoria tolstoy

swedish-born tolstoy (yes, she's the novelist's great-great-

granddaughter) is closer to current pop-jazz crooning than to
jazz, and her breathy, diaphanous sound and photogenic
looks have made her a star in her homeland since the mid-
1990s.
all 12 songs here are by esbjorn svensson, and there is a
flavouring of his oblique, keith jarrett-like piano figures in
pianist bror falk. but despite nils landgren lending his
inimitably mellow and luxurious trombone sound, and falk
walking on esbjorn svensson's keyboard patterns with almost
uncanny accuracy, this set exhibits the catchy simplicity of
svensson compositions without the tension and spontaneous
dynamics of the composer's own trio. tolstoy exhales a
pensive mistiness against the strings and bror's thoughtful
piano figures on love is real, and slips into a convincing
broadway torch-song manner on no regrets. there's plenty of
pretty music but too many predictable developments to
satisfy jazz audiences.

shining on you
released - 2004