Untitled Document
Beady Belle
Norway
Beate S. Lech – voc
Marius Reksjø – b
Erik Holm – dr
Tommy Kristiansen – g
Jørn Øien – key
For over a decade, Norway has been surprising Europe with performers who have taken a different approach to jazz. Jazz inspired melodies from these Nordic musicians may become charming electronic music pictures, then suddenly become upbeat disco rhythms, or even turn into pop songs that nobody would dare call trite.
The term nujazz—“new jazz”, often used to describe this particular type of music is indeed just a fancy sounding word. Once you hear Beady Belle, Norwegian guests on this year’s European Jazz programme, you will see that it’s difficult to pigeon hole them. The group’s early compositions show the influences of jazz, blues, house, and drum'n'bass style. And their latest album has flavours of country music. However, one aspect that has remained constant in Beady Belle’s repertoire for a decade is the warm and dreamy voice of the vocalist Beate S. Lech, which, from the first minute of a concert, captivates the audience with its lyrical mood.
Beate and the bass player Marius Reksjo met at Oslo University. Having tested her abilities in several projects, Beate was, at that time, concentrating on her first solo album, encouraged by Bugge Wesseltoft, the owner of the record company Jazzland. However, the acquaintance with Marius rapidly changed her plans—the two like-minded musicians dived into one and half years of experimentation, the result of which was their first album Home, released by Beady Belle in 2001. The title of the album does not only imply the cosy atmosphere produced by the music, but also reveals the fact that it was created at home, in Beate’s small, 6 m² room.
After the release of the album, two songs Ghosts and Lose and Win became popular all over Europe, and the word about this interesting group spread in Asia and Australia. The debut album was followed by two more albums, CEWBEAGAPPIC (2003) and Closer (2005). The duo continued to surprise listeners; at each stage of their career opening a new creative palette, from electronic music to soul elements. Their music became even more intimate on their third album and Beate was proud to note that, if you listen carefully, you will hear the musicians breathing.
The work of the Norwegian group attracted the attention of prominent, fellow musicians. When in 2005 Beady Belle gave a concert in London, the young British jazz singer Jamie Cullum spoke highly of the group. The artists soon got in touch, and Beady Belle played as a warm-up group at a few of Cullum’s concerts. The album released last year, Belvedere, contains one song, Intermission Music, recorded by Beate together with Cullum.
India.Arie, the US soul-music star, was also fascinated by the group’s music and in a radio interview acknowledged that Beady Belle was her favourite group. Beate called India.Arie to thank her for the compliment and the two women soon met and recorded the song Self-fulfilling which also features on Beady Belle’s album.
Besides Beate and Marius, the group, which has visited more than 25 countries, includes drummer Erik Holm, who joined a few years ago, guitarist Tommy Kristiansen and keyboard player Jørn Øien.
Last year’s album Belvedere is said by the critics to be the warmest in the group’s career. If music can be described as “friendly”, then that is what the group’s songs are like. You don’t need to be a detective to understand that the groups’ compositions have been influenced by joyous changes in the personal life of the singer—Beate has just had a baby. It is particularly nice to see the group at the European Jazz project presented by Vilnius-European Capital of Culture, as currently the group accepts very few invitations to perform. Those familiar with the group’s music don’t need to be persuaded to come to the concert. If the evening is your first acquaintance with Beady Belle, we would like to give you a simple piece of advice—just open your heart to the music, as the notes you’ll hear are coming from the heart.
