A major pop star in Scandinavia, Lisa Ekdahl was 24 when she attempted to sing straight-ahead jazz on the consistently weak When Did You Leave Heaven, which was her first release in the U.S.
and her first all-English recording.
The Swedish singer's thin, girlish, mousy voice might work on bubblegum pop, but it's hardly appropriate for standards like "Cry Me a River" and "I'm a Fool to Want You." Ekdahl tries to emulate Billie Holiday, although the disc ends up sounding more like Paula Abdul with a Scandinavian accent making an ill-advised attempt at acoustic jazz.
Especially embarrassing is her version of "Lush Life" -- this is a song that even 35-year-old singers shy away from because they don't feel they've done enough living, and Ekdahl gives no indication that she has the type of depth needed to sing this Billy Strayhorn classic convincingly.
As many gifted jazz singers as Sweden had in the late 1990s (including Jeanette Lindström and Lina Nyberg), it's most regrettable that RCA Victor chose to record someone who should have stuck to commercial pop.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | But Not for MeGeorge Gershwin, Ira Gershwin | Lisa Ekdahl, Peter Nordahl Trio | Play | 03:24 | 7 MB | 18 MB |
| 2 | Cry Me a RiverArthur Hamilton | Lisa Ekdahl, Peter Nordahl Trio | Play | 05:06 | 11 MB | 26 MB |
| 3 | Love for SaleCole Porter | Lisa Ekdahl, Peter Nordahl Trio | Play | 04:19 | 9 MB | 26 MB |
| 4 | Lush LifeBilly Strayhorn | Lisa Ekdahl, Peter Nordahl Trio | Play | 03:19 | 7 MB | 16 MB |
| 5 | You're Gonna See a Lot of MeAl Goodhart, Al Hoffman, Manny Kurtz | Lisa Ekdahl, Peter Nordahl Trio | Play | 02:28 | 5 MB | 13 MB |
| 6 | The Boy Next DoorRalph Blane, Hugh Martin | Lisa Ekdahl, Peter Nordahl Trio | Play | 03:56 | 9 MB | 18 MB |
| 7 | I'm a Fool to Want YouJoel Herron, Frank Sinatra, Jack Wolf | Lisa Ekdahl, Peter Nordahl Trio | Play | 03:00 | 6 MB | 13 MB |
| 8 | My Heart Belongs to DaddyCole Porter | Lisa Ekdahl, Peter Nordahl Trio | Play | 02:55 | 6 MB | 16 MB |
| 9 | Blame It on My YouthEdward Heyman, Oscar Levant | Lisa Ekdahl, Peter Nordahl Trio | Play | 05:16 | 12 MB | 26 MB |
| 10 | When Did You Leave Heaven | Lisa Ekdahl | Play | 06:02 | 13 MB | 30 MB |
| 11 | It’s Oh So Quiet | Lisa Ekdahl | Play | 03:19 | 7 MB | 17 MB |
| 12 | It Was Just One Of Those Things | Lisa Ekdahl | Play | 02:50 | 6 MB | 16 MB |
| 13 | It’s Oh So Quiet (Alt) | Lisa Ekdahl | Play | 02:38 | 6 MB | 13 MB |
| 48 mins | 111 MB | |||||
| 48 mins | 255 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ralph Blane | Composer |
| 2 | Patrik Boman | Bass, Producer |
| 3 | Walter Bullock | Composer |
| 4 | Richard Dombrowski | Art Direction |
| 5 | Lisa Ekdahl | Primary Artist, Vocals |
| 6 | Ronnie Gardiner | Drums |
| 7 | George Gershwin | Composer |
| 8 | Ira Gershwin | Composer |
| 9 | Al Goodhart | Composer |
| 10 | Arthur Hamilton | Composer |
| 11 | Janne Hansson | Engineer |
| 12 | Joel Herron | Composer |
| 13 | Edward Heyman | Composer |
| 14 | Al Hoffman | Composer |
| 15 | Tommy Koverhult | Sax (Tenor) |
| 16 | Manny Kurtz | Composer |
| 17 | Oscar Levant | Composer |
| 18 | Hugh Martin | Composer |
| 19 | Peter Nordahl | Piano, Producer |
| 20 | Peter Nordahl Trio | Primary Artist |
| 21 | Cole Porter | Composer |
| 22 | Frank Sinatra | Composer |
| 23 | Billy Strayhorn | Composer |
| 24 | Richard A. Whiting | Composer |
| 25 | Jack Wolf | Composer |
| 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. |