Youn Sun Nah Ulf Wakenius

In our time and age, a jazz singer from Korea may still seem like an exotic concept. But anyone who knows how much effort Asian countries invest in education and promotion also knows about the growing circle of jazz fans in the region. So with notable exceptions it’s astounding that there aren’t more artists from Korea or Japan whose names are on everyone’s lips. However, Youn Sun Nah could change all that, and as the first Korean artist exclusively under contract with ACT, anyone listening to her debut album "Voyage" will understand why.

Often compared to Diana Krall and Norah Jones, award-winning Korean singer Youn Sun Nah displays her unique qualities on Lento as she blends different cultural and musical sources in a respectful yet unconventional manner. Besides jazz and related styles, she draws on chanson, pop and folk music. In addition to original compositions by her and her band members, there is a cover of a Nine Inch Nails song ("Hurt") and "Ghost Riders in the Sky", a classic country song made famous by Johnny Cash. And, for the first time, Nah explores European classical music: Alexander Scriabin’s 5 Preludes, Op. 16 was a source of inspiration for the album’s title and it also sets up an intimate, atmospheric and harmonious musical world.

Korean singer Youn Sun Nah is one of the most brilliantly successful artists of our time in jazz and the music related to it. Four years have passed since her last highly successful opus, “Lento”, and now the extremely popular Korean, Parisbased vocal star is back, with a new album. It is a completely fresh project, recorded with a top New York band. Great intimacy, poetry and charm, pure-toned and emotional honesty - you can expect all of that from Youn Sun Nah.

Whether father Ulf did actually place a guitar in the crib of his baby son Eric or not, here they now are unite as a guitar duo on "Father and Son", a personal album and a virtuoso conversation in the art of contemporary jazz guitar. They can swing or play gentle ballads together, go extrovert and percussive, they can tell stories from far-off lands, or sometimes from their Swedish homeland. Ulf and Eric Wakenius have a sensitivity and a sense of atmosphere which creates magical guitar moments.

With her new album Same Girl Youn Sun Nah is still on a musical voyage, exploring and experimenting with different musical styles and genres. Again the song material is very diverse, but she is still the same girl the audience has come to know and love, surprising the listener with songs that have been interpreted in highly individual and distinctive ways, and which break free from the usual stylistic constraints. I didn t want to be confined to a particular repertoire but reflect all possible moments of my life, she explains. That s why I think the album is atmospherically much more diverse than Voyage and, in certain respects, it has more depth and reflects even more aspects of my personality.

The unceasing quest for those magical moments in music is what drives jazz musicians to do what they do: “I was blessed to experience such moments in my work with wonderful artists like Oscar Peterson, Herbie Hancock, Pat Metheny, Youn Sun Nah and others,“ recounts guitarist Ulf Wakenius. And that is what the new album “Momento Magico“ is all about – those rare and extraordinary moments outside the bounds of time and space that stay with you throughout an entire musical life.

The 6th edition of the popular Magic Moments series by Germany’s jazz label of the year 2010-2012 (ECHO award). In 2013 again under the motto “In the Spirit of Jazz”:Music far from fixed styles. Sometimes more, sometimes less jazzy. Between the genres, whether classical music, rock or pop. On the pulse of time and beyond. With established ACT stars and promising newcomers. Music for open ears, for the mind and soul. And for everyone who loves good music:Margit Hjukse (traditional) 3:19 Album: “Last Spring” ACT 9526-2Bugge Wesseltoft, piano / Henning Kraggerud, violaFool's Gold* (Jacob Karlzon) 3:44 Album: “More” ACT 9533-2Jacob Karlzon, piano / Hans Andersson, bass / Jonas Holgersson, drumsLament (Youn Sun Nah) 3:38 Album “Lento” ACT 9030-2Youn Sun Nah, vocals / Ulf Wakenius, guitar / Lars Danielsson, bass / Vincent Peirani, accordion…

Another Beatles album?! When Swedish guitarist Ulf Wakenius initially proposed the idea of recording a homage to Paul McCartney, Siggi Loch was highly sceptical.

It is now 25 years since Siggi Loch properly set about being “useful rather than important” (the phrase is from his autobiography) and to move on from a successful and distinguished career in the international record industry to found his own independent jazz label, ACT.