Hayati Kafe - The Copenhagen Session (2007)

Hayati Kafe, Turkish expat and longtime Swedish resident, is one of the best-known singers on the Scandinavian jazz scene, with a long list of associations at the highest level. Surprisingly, he's not so well known elsewhere. Kafe has a rich, full voice you could warm your hands on. He knows how to handle himself in a jazz group, he swings hard and sings in a direct, uncomplicated manner, treating the lyrics with respect. Here, Kafe wraps his voice around 14 old favourites from the Great American Songbook, with superb support from Jan Lundgren (piano), Jacob Fischer (guitar) and Jesper Lundgaard (bass). Collectively, the trio generates such momentum, light but unmistakeably powerful, that drums are not missed, and Kafe surfs deftly, with very evident pleasure, on the plush musical carpet they lay out for him. Aficionados should love it.