Sylvia Vrethammar & Rune Gustafsson - Something My Heart Might Say (1994)

There was something very special with the voice of this female singer when I first heard a couple songs from this album without knowing who she was. The swell honest phrasing, superb vocal control, not to mention the charm of execution in unison with a playful chic jazz guitarist. Surprising as it turned out that my unknown musicians are two famous Swedish artists; Sylvia Vrethammar and Rune Gustafsson. For international jazz enthusiasts who do not know these two excellent musicians, a little introduction; Sylvia Vrethammar is a singer of popular music, standards and jazz. She is best known for the 1974 song, "Y Viva España". It reached #4 in the UK Singles Chart in September 1974. Rune Gustafsson is a well-known jazz guitarist and composer, known for numerous recordings and concerts with the likes of Ed Thigpen, Putte Wickman, Arne Domnérus, Jon Christensen, Kjell Øhman, Zoot Sims and Toots Thielemans.

"Something My Heart Might Say" gives you the best of harmony vocals and guitar only, never gets boring even when the two are without any support from other instruments throughout the album and finally by a fine collection of musical gems from 'The Great American Songbook'. All the tunes you've heard before, but maybe not so naked and vulnerable as here when the nuances come out more clearly in a challenging format for the two musicians. All the 17 tunes running on the album are highlights; my personal picks for listening over-and-over again are the album title tune "Something My Heart Might Say", the seldom played "I'll Never Get Myself Another Face", Blossom Dearie's lovely "Sweet Georgie Fame" and finally Billy Joel's immortal "Just the Way You Are". Rune Gustafsson is the perfect partner for Sylvia Vrethammar on this album, an excellent accompanist and playful soloist in this challenging format. As always from Four Leaf Clover Records, sound quality is excellent and particularly the vocal recorded are of the highest audible quality. Highly recommended album! ~Terje Biringvad