Amigo

Influenced by a wide variety of music, Lena Willemark has not been afraid to take chances – and the Swedish folk-pop singer takes her share on Windogur. This introspective effort, recorded in Stockholm in 1999, underscores Willemark's eclectic, unpredictable nature and showcases how many different styles of music have affected her. Swedish folk is her foundation, but Willemark is no purist and liberally incorporates elements of pop and post-bop jazz. In fact, two of the musicians she employs on Windogur – pianist Bobo Stenson and bassist Palle Danielsson – are Swedish jazz musicians who command a lot of respect in European jazz circles. There are also traces of East European and Middle Eastern music on some of the material. As experimental and risk-taking as Willemark is, Windogur never sounds forced or unnatural – all of the selections sound very organic, and Willemark has no problem bringing them to life.

The disc's subtitle is "13th-century Galician-Portuguese Songs & Dances of Love, Longing, & Devotion". My subtitle is, "this is one of the finest discs of its kind." It fully, often arrestingly captures the essential spirit of these lovely poetic texts and ancient melodies and virtually jumps and dances and vibrantly rings with the kind of life these songs' creators must have felt 800 years ago. If you're new to secular music of this period and place, you will be surprised at its incredible rhythmic energy, catchiness, and complexity. You'll also be captivated by the originality and variety of the melodies–sensuous, infectious, irresistible.