Cæcilie Norby (born 9 September 1964) is a Danish jazz and rock singer.
She was born in
Frederiksberg
Frederiksberg () is a part of the Capital Region of Denmark. It is formally an independent municipality, Frederiksberg Municipality, separate from Copenhagen Municipality, but both are a part of the City of Copenhagen. It occupies an area of ...
, Denmark, into a musical family. Her father,
Erik Norby, is classical composer and her mother, Solveig Lumholt, is an opera singer. She was a founding member of the band Street Beat in 1982. For two years, she was a member of the jazz-rock band Frontline. From 1985 to 1993, she worked with singer Nina Forsberg in the rock band One-Two. During the 1990s, she turned to jazz and released her first solo album for
Blue Note
In jazz and blues, a blue note is a note that—for expressive purposes—is sung or played at a slightly different pitch from standard. Typically the alteration is between a quartertone and a semitone, but this varies depending on the musical c ...
.
The self-titled debut recording was co-produced by
Niels Lan Doky as was her following album ''My Corner of the Sky'' from 1996, which prominently featured American musicians like pianists
David Kikoski
Dave Kikoski (born September 29, 1961) is an American jazz pianist and keyboardist.
Biography
Born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, Kikoski learned piano from his father and played with him in bars as a teenager. He studied at the Berklee College ...
,
Joey Calderazzo
Joseph Dominick Calderazzo (February 27, 1965) is a jazz pianist and brother of musician Gene Calderazzo. He played extensively in bands led by Michael Brecker and Branford Marsalis, and has also led his own bands.
Early life
Calderazzo was born ...
and
Terri Lyne Carrington
Terri Lyne Carrington (born August 4, 1965) is an American jazz drummer, composer, producer, and educator. She has played with Dizzy Gillespie, Stan Getz, Clark Terry, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Joe Sample, Al Jarreau, Yellowjackets, and ma ...
on drums.
Scott Robinson Scott Robinson may refer to:
* Scott Robinson (jazz musician) (born 1959), American jazz musician
* Scott Robinson (ice hockey) (born 1964), Canadian National Hockey League player
* Scott Robinson (singer) (born 1979), English singer in the boy ban ...
and
Randy Brecker
Randal Edward Brecker (born November 27, 1945) is an American trumpeter, flugelhornist, and composer. His versatility has made him a popular studio musician who has recorded with acts in jazz, rock, and R&B.
Early life
Brecker was born on No ...
already appeared on her debut as guests each on one track.
Michael Brecker
Michael Leonard Brecker (March 29, 1949 – January 13, 2007) was an American jazz saxophonist and composer. He was awarded 15 Grammy Awards as both performer and composer. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Berklee College of M ...
contributes to yet another track. The repertoire for both recordings included only a few jazz standards like "
Summertime" or "
Just One of Those Things", instead she and Lan Doky arranged classic popular songs for a jazz line-up, like "
Wild Is the Wind
''Wild is the Wind'' is a 1957 film directed by George Cukor and starring Anna Magnani, Anthony Quinn, and Anthony Franciosa. It tells the story of an American rancher who, after his wife dies, goes to Italy to marry her sister, but finds that s ...
", "
By the Time I Get to Phoenix
"By the Time I Get to Phoenix" is a song written by Jimmy Webb. Originally recorded by Johnny Rivers in 1965, it was covered by American country music singer Glen Campbell on his album of the same name. Released on Capitol Records in 1967, Camp ...
" and a track by
Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer, and one of the most influential musicians behind soul and politically conscious African-American music. on the first album, "
The Look of Love", "
Life on Mars
The possibility of life on Mars is a subject of interest in astrobiology due to the planet's proximity and similarities to Earth. To date, no proof of past or present life has been found on Mars. Cumulative evidence suggests that during the ...
", "
Spinning Wheel
A spinning wheel is a device for spinning thread or yarn from fibres. It was fundamental to the cotton textile industry prior to the Industrial Revolution. It laid the foundations for later machinery such as the spinning jenny and spinning f ...
" and "
Set Them Free" by
Sting on the second. For both albums Norby also wrote lyrics to compositions by Randy Brecker,
Chick Corea,
Don Grolnick
Don Grolnick (September 23, 1947 – June 1, 1996) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and record producer. He was a member of the groups Steps Ahead and Dreams, both with Michael Brecker, and played often with the Brecker Brothers. As a sess ...
and
Wayne Shorter
Wayne Shorter (born August 25, 1933) is an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Shorter came to prominence in the late 1950s as a member of, and eventually primary composer for, Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. In the 1960s, he joined Miles Dav ...
. Both albums gained wide attention and five-digit sales, especially in Denmark and also in Japan.
[According t]
her website
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Her third album ''Queen of Bad Excuses'', released in 1999, was a collaboration between her and Lars Danielsson
Lars Danielsson (born 5 September 1958) is a Swedish jazz bassist, composer, and record producer.
Biography
Danielsson was born in Smålandsstenar, and was educated at the music conservatory in Gothenburg. He plays double bass, electric bass ...
, who already played bass throughout ''My Corner of the Sky''. This time all compositions are originals by Norby, while she and Danielsson arranged, programmed and produced all tracks together. Danielsson played also guitar, cello, electric piano, keyboards and even drums on one track. With Ben Besiakov and long-time companion Lars Jansson on piano, Anders Kjellberg and Per Lindvall from Sweden alternating on drums with Billy Hart, who was also part of her debut recording, the line-up is accentuated by the guitar of John Scofield
John Scofield (born December 26, 1951), sometimes referred to as "Sco", is an American guitarist and composer whose music over a long career has blended jazz, jazz fusion, funk, blues, soul and rock. He first came to mainstream attention in th ...
on more than half of the album, and saxophonist Hans Ulrik and Xavier Desandre Navarre on percussion.
Awards
*1985: Ben Webster Prize The Ben Webster Prize is an annual jazz award set up by the Ben Webster Foundation to honour Danish and American jazz musicians as well as other professionals active in the promotion of jazz in those countries. The American jazz musician Ben Webst ...
*1996: Best Recording Album in Japan
*1997: Simon Spies Soloist Prize
*2000: Wilhelm Hansen Music Prize
*2010: IFPI's Honorary Award
Discography
With Frontline
*1985: ''Frontline''
*1986: ''Frontlife''
With One Two
*1986: ''One Two''
*1990: ''Hvide Løgne''
*1993: ''Getting Better''
With DR Big Band
*2009: ''Jazz Divas of Scandinavia'' (Red Dot)
;Solo studio albums
;Solo live albums
;Solo compilation albums
References
External links
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Norby, Caecilie
1964 births
Living people
People from Frederiksberg
Danish jazz singers
Danish women singers
English-language singers from Denmark