Anna Pauline: Lucky To Be Me
Swedish vocalist Anna Pauline Andersson celebrates over 20 years in jazz with Lucky To Be Me. Coming from a musical family, she was early inspired by such as Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee and Doris Day, as well as songwriters including Joni Mitchell and Emmylou Harris. This deep appreciation of a range of music has been honed to perfection on this album. Working with some excellent musicians and the exquisite arrangements of pianist John Di Martino, Anna Pauline covers 10 songs with grace and style, including her self-penned opener Just One Song.
On what is essentially an album of ballads, only a couple of song choices feel a bit out of place – a slightly funky take of The Sound Of Music, and a version of Singing In The Rain that takes on the rhythms and feel of South Africa as the album’s closer. The gems on the album are all ballads, with standout interpretations of two compositions by Michel Legrand – Les Parapluies De Cherbourg and La Chanson De Maxence. Sung in French and bringing out the sense of yearning and nostalgia that Legrand wrote about so wonderfully in his compositions, these tracks made me think that an entire album of Legrand material by Anna Pauline would be something incredibly special indeed.
John Di Martino’s genius arrangements and the hushed accompaniment of the band (notably Di Martino caressing the piano and Freddie Hendrix’s featherweight trumpet and flugelhorn) add something magical to the sound of the entire album. Copyrighted back in 1932, Allie Wrubel’s magnificent song As You Desire Me, as arranged and performed by Anna Pauline and her band is, it is no exaggeration to say, one of the most beautiful things I think I have ever heard.
Discography
Just One Song; Les Parapluies De Cherbourg; Lucky To Be Me; I Hope It’s Spring For You; The Sound Of Music; Autumn Nocturne; People; As You Desire Me; La Chanson De Maxence (You Must Believe In Spring); Singing In The Rain (52.00)
Pauline (v); John Di Martino (p, arr); Guilherme Moneteiro (g); Craig Handy (ts, f); Freddie Hendrix (t, flh); Boris Kozlov (b); Vince Cherico (d, pc); Khalil Kwame Bell (pc); Janis Siegel, Salieu Dibba (v); Aaron Heick (as); Randy Brecker (t). New Jersey, autumn 2025.
Storyville 1018547
Colin Steele: Stramash II
The idea of combining jazz quartet, string quartet and bagpipes was described by a friend of Colin Steele’s as sounding like a “right stramash”. This was back in 2005, and after some live gigs and an album, hibernation beckoned. But now, thankfully, we have Stramash II. Exuberant, joyful and emotional, the nine tracks here celebrate a sense of place, pride and love for being Scottish, for having friends and family and – perhaps above all – the power and love that comes through making music. The CD offers notes from Colin about each track, and the compositions range from feisty, fiddle-dominated jigs and reels to gentle ballads about people and places that have been special to the trumpeter over the years.
At almost nine minutes, Declaration Of Arbroath opens Stramash II with some haunting notes and a tangible sense of history that reveals the interplay between all the musicians and the different styles they bring to the album. Covesea Bay offers a simple, beautiful theme inspired by time Colin spent near Elgin and features some gorgeous playing by Rory Campbell, and Cairns is an upbeat and affectionate tribute to his late father. Just some of the highlights on offer across almost an hour of wonderful music. Nine words on the back of the CD stand out as a guarantee of quality – “All compositions by Colin Steele. Arrangements by Dave Milligan.” The working partnership between these two delivers an album of exceptional energy, drama and beauty. Commissioning editors for Scottish film and television projects should be beating a path to work with Steele and Milligan – their music evokes such a sense of time and place and really has a cinematic quality when you listen to it. Colin Steele’s album of Blue Nile songs was one of my favourite releases of 2025. He has struck gold again with Stramash II. Life-affirming, rousing and delicate in equal measure – a triumph.
Discography
Declaration Of Arbroath; Elgin Laddie; Earl Of Hospitalfield; Fergus; Covesea Bay; Benromach; Song From Long Ago; Cairns; Bangers And Stramash (52.00)
Steele (t); Dave Milligan (p); Phil Bancroft (ts); Seonaid Aitken, Chris Stout (fiddle); Patsy Reid (fiddle, vla); Su-a Lee (clo); Rory Campbell (low whistles, border pipes); Calum Gourlay (b); Alan Hosker (d). Castlesound Studio, 19 & 20 August 2025.
Gadgemo Records GAD003CD
Mike Clark: Kuon Ganjo (Time Without Beginning)
Mike Clark, immortalised as the drummer on Herbie Hancock’s 1974 album Thrust, will be 80 in October 2026. He plays with the energy and drive of a musician half his age and is very much front and centre on this new album. The line up is the same as on the Itai Doshin album (reviewed December 2025), except for bassist Essiet Okon Essiet replacing Henry Franklin this time around. This change, and perhaps the recording and engineering balance, puts bass and drums at the heart of the sound. That is fine, but it sometimes puts the other musicians slightly in the background to the extent that drums and bass sound a little heavy at times.
The music is conducted at a brisk, business-like pace, with efficient renditions of compositions by, amongst others, Sonny Rollins, Jan Hammer, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Thelonious Monk, and Mike Clark himself with the eponymous Kuon Ganjo. Clark started drumming at the age of four, which means he is drawing on an incredible 76 years of experience for this recording. Aside from Hancock, Clark has also worked with a vast range of musicians over the decades, including John Scofield, Chet Baker, Nat Adderley, Tony Bennett and the Gil Evans Orchestra. Yet despite everything he has done, and everyone he has performed with, there is a keen sense that he still loves what he does. Laying down funky rhythms and sizzling drumming that drives the band from the front, he offers 45 minutes of no-nonsense, straightahead jazz that sounds youthful, fresh and ready to just keep on going.
Discography
East Broadway Rundown; Austin City Shuffle; Eddy And Hyde; Softly As In A Morning Sunrise; Lungs; Toys; Kuon Ganjo; Monk’s Dream; Beauty And The Beast (45.20)
Clark (d); Eddie Henderson (t); Patrice Rushen (p, kyb); Essiet Okon Essiet (b); Craig Handy (ts). San Francisco, 7 October 2025.
Wide Hive Records WH-0393
