from LETTERS TO HERBIE
written by Herbie Hancock, David Foster, Jay Graydon & Bill Champlin
Viktoria Tolstoy is a very talented Swedish jazz vocalist. She recently released an album entitled “Letters To Herbie” that’s a tribute to the artistry of jazz giant Herbie Hancock. Tolstoy and her producer Nils Landgren, a trombonist and singer extraordinaire, have assembled some of the brighter gems from Hancock’s amazing songbook.
They have delivered a heartfelt homage that’s an absolute joy to listen to from start to finish.
“Letters To Herbie” presents effective renditions of the masterpieces from the legendary jazz pianist’s career like “Tell Me A Bedtime Story” and “Naima,” but focuses mostly on the funk/jazz part of his career of the Seventies and Eighties. They include elegant covers of classics like “I Thought It Was You,” “Come Running To Me” and the enchanting “Chan’s Song” originally from the soundtrack of the movie “Round Midnight.” Tolstoy and Landgren also rediscovered a couple of fantastic songs from Hancock’s 1982 album “Lite Me Up.” One is a smooth funky/soul jam entitled “Give It All Your Heart” co-written with Rod Temperton, while the other is a perfect pop ballad coming from the gifted pens of David Foster, Jay Graydon and Bill Champlin called “Paradise.” Those three gentlemen co-wrote the track with Hancock and created a quality pop masterpiece. Foster would tell us years later: “Can you imagine that we got the great Herbie Hancock to sing a pop song? Not very nice of us, but we did a lot of crazy things back then.” Tolstoy’s covers both songs with amazing class, her vocals and the instrumental solos are impeccable with the support of some of Sweden ’s best jazz musicians while Landgren’s production is top notch. He’s usually involved as musician, band leader or producer with some of the best music coming from Northern Europe.
Kudos to Tolstoy and her team for this project that’s a must listen!
Listen
[audio:https://www.fozfan.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/paradise.mp3|titles=Paradise|artists=Viktoria Tolstoy]
Vocals: Viktoria Tolstoy
Piano & Keyboards: Jakob Karlzon
Guitars: Krister Jonsson
Bass: Mattias Svensson
Drums: Rasmus Kihlberg
Backing Vocals: Nils Landgren
Produced & Arranged by Nils Landgren
Lyrics
Easy, to fill a lonely night
So easy
So hard to find the one
You tease me
Baby, when im in love with you
Kiss me once
Kiss me twice
Take a lonely girl to paradise
In my eyes
You will see
The love you`re looking for
Lonely, will only be a memory
Won`t you show me
The love you hide away
When ypu know me,better
You`ll never forget my love
Kiss me once
Kiss me twice
Take a lonely girl to paradise
In my eyes
You will see
The love your looking for
You`re knowing
And not belive in when
What im showing
When this new romance
Between us can be growing
Just fall in love with me
Kiss me once
Kiss me twice
Take a lonely girl to paradise
In my eyes
You will see
The love, all that you need
All that you need…