Further Reading
12th April 2024
A first-rate double bass duo, a modern day supergroup from West Africa, a sultry Korean-born jazz crooner, mysterious Irish vocals and an astute Scottish-based trio with an unpredictable pulse.
Long hailed for her style-blurring renditions of artists spanning Tom Waits and Jimi Hendrix to Marvin Gaye and Metallica, Elles sees Youn Sun Nah bringing her remarkable voice and unique perspective to a range of songs that have deeply fueled her own indescribable musical approach, all made famous by such iconic female artists as Björk, Sarah Vaughan, Grace Jones, Roberta Flack, Edith Piaf, Grace Slick, Maria João, and more. Two tracks are out now - “Feeling Good,” written by Leslie Bricusse and Anthony Newly but fully inspired by Nina Simone’s landmark 1965 rendition, and “Killing Me Softly With His Song,” composed by Charles Fox with lyrics by Norman Gimbel and made famous by such artists as Roberta Flack and Fugees.
Youn Sun Nah:
“I realized that the songs I’ve recorded over the years, most have been from male singers. So this time I wanted to honor the female singers I've been admiring since a long time, the songs which move me and the voices that touch me.”
Recorded earlier this year in New York City alongside acclaimed pianist Jon Cowherd (Brian Blade, Cassandra Wilson, Lizz Wright) and producer/musician Tomek Miernowski, Elles spans a wide array of songs either written or performed by notable female artists, from soulful spirituals (“Sometimes I Feel Like A Motherless Child”) and psychedelic milestones (“White Rabbit”) to long-overdue takes on “My Funny Valentine” and “Killing Me Softly With His Song” (the latter performed alone with a treasured music box). Backed by Cowherd’s subtle yet inventive work on a variety of keyboards, Youn Sun Nah reimagines standards both old and new in typically captivating fashion, traversing gender and generation with precision, magic, and intimacy.
Youn Sun Nah is among contemporary jazz’s most admired vocalists, an international award-winning singer, songwriter, and performer, hailed by The Guardian for her “seamless” movement “between impressionistic high drama, abstract improv, or a folk artist’s candid simplicity.” The Seoul, South Korea-based artist began her musical journey with piano lessons as a child before singing gospel with the Korean Symphony Orchestra as a teen. A career in musical theatre beckoned but Youn Sun Nah instead chose to pursue her own muse by attending Paris’ Institut National de Musique de Beauvais, Nadia and Lili Boulanger Conservatory, and the CIM, a school of jazz and contemporary music. Youn Sun Nah quickly affirmed herself as an exceptional vocal star, winning prizes at jazz festivals and competitions before truly arriving in 2001 with her debut album Reflets.A series of increasingly acclaimed albums followed, including 2010’s breakthrough Same Girl and 2013’s Lento, earning her Gold certification in both France and Germany amidst a plethora of honors and accolades.
Along with her growing body of work as recording artist, Youn Sun Nah has performed countless live shows and tours in historic venues and at prestigious festivals across Europe, Asia, and North America, including performances at closing ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi and the 2017 International Jazz Day All-Star Global Concert in Havana, Cuba, the latter of which saw her performing alongside such fellow icons as Herbie Hancock, Regina Carter, Kurt Elling, Antonio Sanchez, Chucho Valdés, and more.
Appointed Officier des Arts et des Lettres by the French Ministry of Culture in 2019, Youn Sun Nah made her Warner Music debut that same year with the highly lauded Immersion. Stuck in place by the pandemic, Youn Sun Nah wrote and recorded her first ever collection of all original songs, 2022’s evocative Waking World, marked as always by deep emotional insight and a haunting musical approach bridging pop gestures, folk intimacy, and surprising jazz instrumentations. Now, with the remarkable Elles, Youn Sun Nah continues to explore musical possibilities through her idiosyncratic creativity and deep sense of craft, reaching across boundaries and borders to once again touch something universal and true.
