Sometimes the most dynamic, wildly creative, soulful, sonically inventive and playfully swinging jazz arrives in deceptive packaging.
The cover of Dawn Comes Quietly, the latest album by popular European touring ensemble the Sarah Elgeti Quartet, shows the Danish born multi-talented musician, composer and songwriter on a window ledge, looking out the large panes at a lovely hazy dawn while holding her tenor sax.
The photo implies “mellow,” and the prominence of her horn may lead some listeners to think that’s her primary instrument. She’s a powerhouse on it for sure, as her spirited improvisations and interaction with Nils Raae’s buoyant harmonica on “Changing Whispers” and the hoppin’, skippin’ and jumpin’ “Crazy Destiny” showcase quite majestically.
Yet the tenor is just the start of the deep artistry she brings to this delightfully mood swinging affair, which also finds her engaging our melodic and harmonic jazz and sometimes classical sensibilities) with flute and bass clarinet.
As impactful and freewheeling as her tenor is, there’s something even more emotionally showstopping when she slows the pace and shares her exquisite brilliance on flute – most notably on the lush vocal ballad “Autumn,” sung sensually by guest vocalist Sidsel Storm.