A dramatic vocalist who was born in France but sings in impeccable and unaccented English, Elisabeth Kontomanou is best known in Europe as both a singer and an actress.
She has visited New York regularly and along the way has worked with Michel Legrand, Mike Stern, Toots Thielemans, and Jean-Michel Pilc, among others.
Kontomanou has a powerful voice and is a fine jazz singer.
On Back to My Groove, she performs Gustav Karlström's inventive arrangements to nine of her songs and two numbers from her sidemen.
In addition to her impressive singing and the fresh material, some of which sounds like it could have been a standard in the '60s or '70s, Back to My Groove is of strong interest due to the instrumentation.
Most selections utilize not only a rhythm section but the Quatuor Elysee String Quartet, a few horns (soprano saxophonist Sam Newsome is well featured) and a harpist.
While there are some thoughtful performances, it is the more high-powered pieces, which include some challenging writing for the strings, that are of the greatest interest.
Kontomanou gives one the impression that she could sing anything, making Back to My Groove a strong introduction to her music.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Back to My GrooveElisabeth Kontomanou | Elisabeth Kontomanou, Orrin Evans, Marvin Sewell | Play | 06:13 | 14 MB | 39 MB |
| 2 | What a LifeElisabeth Kontomanou | Elisabeth Kontomanou, Orrin Evans, Marvin Sewell | Play | 05:49 | 13 MB | 38 MB |
| 3 | Where I'm Coming FromElisabeth Kontomanou | Elisabeth Kontomanou, Orrin Evans, Marvin Sewell | Play | 07:37 | 17 MB | 50 MB |
| 4 | The AbuseElisabeth Kontomanou | Elisabeth Kontomanou, Orrin Evans, Marvin Sewell | Play | 03:46 | 8 MB | 26 MB |
| 5 | Black AngelElisabeth Kontomanou | Elisabeth Kontomanou, Orrin Evans, Marvin Sewell | Play | 08:00 | 18 MB | 54 MB |
| 6 | You've Changed My WorldElisabeth Kontomanou | Elisabeth Kontomanou, Orrin Evans, Marvin Sewell | Play | 05:19 | 12 MB | 37 MB |
| 7 | Late Cold NightElisabeth Kontomanou | Elisabeth Kontomanou, Orrin Evans, Marvin Sewell | Play | 04:04 | 9 MB | 23 MB |
| 8 | SummerElisabeth Kontomanou | Elisabeth Kontomanou, Orrin Evans, Marvin Sewell | Play | 05:14 | 11 MB | 34 MB |
| 9 | My LoveThomas Bramerie | Elisabeth Kontomanou, Sam Newsome, Marvin Sewell | Play | 06:52 | 15 MB | 45 MB |
| 10 | Peace on EarthElisabeth Kontomanou | Elisabeth Kontomanou, Orrin Evans, Marvin Sewell | Play | 07:53 | 18 MB | 53 MB |
| 11 | Dreams Of Gold | Elisabeth Kontomanou | Play | 03:47 | 8 MB | 24 MB |
| 64 mins | 148 MB | |||||
| 64 mins | 428 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thomas Bramerie | Composer |
| 2 | Orrin Evans | Primary Artist |
| 3 | Gustav Karlström | Composer, Primary Artist |
| 4 | Elisabeth Kontomanou | Composer, Primary Artist |
| 5 | Sam Newsome | Primary Artist |
| 6 | Orrin | Primary Artist |
| 7 | Marvin Sewell | Primary Artist |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |