Connie Evingson - Stockholm Sweetnin' (2006) 320kbps

Jazz vocalist Connie Evingson is known for taking divergent musical paths. Her eclectic catalog of recordings for Minnehaha Music covers such varied themes as Peggy Lee, the Beatles, jazz elders, and most recently, "hot club" music a la Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli (Gypsy in My Soul, '04). Anticipating her next release, one would expect Evingson's music to take another divergent turn. But a chance meeting with a young hot club group from Sweden inspired her to delve deeper into the Django style before moving in a new direction.

With only email for introductions and planning, Connie met The Hot Club of Sweden at Real Music Studio in Stockholm in January 2006, where they recorded 15 tunes in 2 1/2 days. The result, "Stockholm Sweetnin' ", is both stunning and uniquely Connie. Hot Club of Sweden guitarists Gustav Lundgren and Andreas Oberg and bassist Hampus Lundgren form the core rhythm section, with brilliant solo turns by each player. Guest artists from both sides of the Atlantic add their unique voices on saxophone, clarinet, accordion and percussion, but the most distinctive voice belongs to Connie, as vocalist, arranger, and lyricist (on Oberg's "Autumn in Kokkola").

Of the fifteen tracks that fill Stockholm Sweetnin', six are familiar hot club repertoire. "If I Had You," "I Can't Give You Anything But Love," and "Out of Nowhere" were often performed by Django himself; Duke Ellington, a Django favorite, is beautifully represented by "In a Sentimental Mood," while another ballad, "Lover Man," features young Swedish saxman Fredrik Lindborg. "After You've Gone" puts the spotlight on Minnesota clarinetist, Tony Baluff. Connie offers the rarely heard lyrics on Count Basie and Eddie Durham's "Swingin' the Blues," a tune she says she learned as a child from the Lambert, Hendricks and Ross record, "Sing a Song of Basie".