Reviews
The New York City Jazz Record (USA)
”……..Dunér was called up for outstanding scat vocals, leaning easily against original music morphing into Brahms and erupting into Rozenblatt’s Krupa-like tom-toms. If this be New Music, it is the sort best viewed with eyes locked into a convex rear-view mirror. ”
LIRA (SE)
“Her music is provocative, restless virtuoso. Exquisite vocals & radical improvisational thinking.”
“Dunér is a high-octane performer who thrives on visceral contrasts, rhythmic changes, and simmering intensity. Her startling vocalese on Gossip with multi-tracking involves some virile playing from the cellist too; a track that put me in mind of a kind of weirded-up Anita O’Day.”
“She is a remarkable storyteller in her songs, her vocals marshalled to the songs’ core, using every device available to vest liveliness and sensibility to her music-making. In Sophisticated Love the variety of influences ranges from Ella to Schoenberg via folklore and Weimar”
Musenblätter (DE)
“There she is again, that charismatic, incomparable voice of the Swedish jazz singer Sophie Dunér, whose guttural timbre can jump over octaves and produce a unique scat.”
The Art Music Lounge (USA)
” Her vocal delivery is forceful, with a high register that sounds like Arthur Blythe, a low range that booms out like Armstrong’s. Quite simply, there is no one else like her in the entire world.”
Dr. Sushi’s Free Jazz BBQ / WMSE (USA)
“Sophie not only delivers us jazz and blues on this album but she also treats us to vocals that bring to mind Meredith Monk – and she scats like Ella. There is no one performing today that possesses the unique set of vocal skills that Sophie does.”
The Art Music Lounge (USA)
No Scene Unheard (USA)
“What Matters’ is a direct message to the bigoted and intolerant. With Sophie Dunier’s booming vocals and Pritsker’s acid lyrics, that message is clear.”
LIRA (SE)
“…..with an irresistible scatting song (“Dizcharmed”) that challenges, even deconstructs, both the technique and the tradition in a wild combination of Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald and Dizzy Gillespie.”
See English translation on bottom of this page.
The Art Music Lounge (USA)
“Songs Eclectic CD features the world’s greatest female jazz singer, Sophie Dunér, and imaginative guitarist Gene Pritsker in a program of hyper-techno-jazz that you simply have to hear to believe.”
Contemporary Fusion Reviews (USA)
“Sophie puts on a tantalizing show with her high-energy scat singing contrasted against Gene’s open-ended guitar wonders! Sophie’s vocal is splendidly breathless…the absolutely unique and entertaining talents of Sophie Dunér. “
Musenblätter (DE)
“……a virtuoso sound journey which once again underlines Sophie Dunér’s extraordinary qualities. She presents adorable scat and almost unbelievable octave changes, she whispers and chirps, roars, hums and swings.”
See English review on bottom of this page.
Hal Crook (trombone player & Berklee College of Music Jazz Improvisation teacher, USA)
“….you sing the shit out of the hornplayers.”
Shepherd Express (USA)
“….the attractive, arty jazz of Swedish composer and singer Sophie Dunér. Her voice spanned well more than two octaves as she freely spun out Something to Say, Rain in Spain, Red Sailor Girl and The Express Train. I loved her edgy scat singing in Hey Doctor.”
The Art Music Lounge (USA)
“Four of the greatest jazz geniuses I have encountered in recent years are Swiss-born saxist-composer Daniel Schnyder, pianist-composers Vijay Iyer and Aruán Ortiz and singer-composer-arranger Sophie Dunér.”
(In the review of “Alister Spence Imagines Meeting the Satoko Fujii Orchestra”)
Jazz da Gama (CA)
“…both stretching vocal and instrumental technique so that she not only fits the music of the 20th and 21st centuries, but seemingly all of the desperate fear and unbridled joy of human existence into every the extraordinary lyric.”
Fanfare Magazine (USA)
“This is a first-class creator and this is a stunning album, the music of which certainly opens up new and quite astonishing possibilities for other jazz vocal artists around the world to emulate and expand.”
MusicZoom (IT)
“As always, the Swedish singer Sophie Dunér presents something brilliant and out of the norm. She is one of the great contemporary singers. The album is among the most original savorine sounds of the year.”
José Luís Greco (composer & member of The Royal Spanish American Academy of Science, Arts and Letters, Cádiz, Spain.)
“Her voice is as exciting as a roller coaster. It feels like danger, like she´s going to go flying off the rails, but one is constantly reassured that she´s securely attached, firmly grounded. So many surprises, so many registers, colors, so much humor, and sometimes melancholy, all coming out of that golden throat of hers! Truly amazing.”
David Balakrishnan (violinist and founder of Turtle Island String Quartet, USA)
“She is a seriously talented singer, and nicely set in string quartet, really beautiful original material.”
Musenblätter (DE)
“This is a virtuoso through and through and a bit bizarre, beautiful bizarre.”
The Art Music Lounge (USA)
“This album is a killer. Nearly every track comes at you like an assault of rhythm in which the twists and turns of the music keep you on the edge of your seat.”
“There’s an elemental, animal excitement in everything Dunér sings that grabs you by the throat and pulls you out of complacency.….”
“….improvising like a jazz horn. Many such singers have claimed this distinction, but only a handful, Dunér, Mark Murphy and Anita O’Day among them, have ever really achieved this.”
Michael Haas, Producer (Producer of The City of My Soul. Haas has produced artists such as Luciano Pavarotti & Plácido Domingo etc.)
” A unique artist of enormous talent and intelligence. A profoundly individual composer & stunning singer.”
Musenblätter (DE)
“….of such outstanding quality, that in the history of music, once again I have to go all the way back to Kurt Weill to find any equivalent.”
From Baroque to Bop and Beyond (USA)
“We begin with Kairo – there are less notes here than in any single bar of Gershwin’s An American in Paris, but it is infinitely richer in content and better music.”
“Sophie Dunér has here provided a matrix for jazz-classical vocal writing in the new millennium, a means of presenting the singing voice in a context that could work within a jazz oratorio or opera.”
Read full article (chapter 18, pages 423 – 426)
José Luis Greco, composer (ES & US)
“.…an imposing instrument, a prodigious technique, a talent of interpretation that is unique, multidimensional and moving. As a composer (a term that I do not use with lightness) she has produced a CD with a British string quartet in which all the arrangements and compositions come from her hand … and it is a hand with a firm pulse.”
The Expressionist (USA)
“Sophie Dunér has brought a new edge to the music industry. A completely new and unique genre and brand of music. A resemblance to Tim Burton´s music in his movie soundtracks.”
Cadence Magazine (N.Y, USA)
“As a composer, lyricist and vocalist we pretty much have to acknowledge that Sophie is a genuine triple threat.”
Kathodik (IT)
“An album of great sophistication with a writing style that equals (sophistication) to the results by the Brodsky Quartet in Moodswing (then in the company of the likes of Sting or Rodney Bennett, for instance).
Cadence Magazine (USA)
“Her CDs all have something going for them. That something is Ms. Dunér. This woman comes at you from all angles. She is a dynamic singer and an excellent lyricist and composer. You really ought to check out her work.“Intriguing music – If you play it enough, they will become originals.”
Babysue.com (USA)
“An unusual and exciting experience indeed, an amazingly expressive voice that seems particularly well-suited for a string quartet – a true original etc.”
MusicWeb International (U.K)
“Sophie Dunér is a real one-off. Her lyrics are spellbindingly kooky. Her bizarre narratives and her off-kilter persona are always intriguing. She’s far more engaging and wacky than most artists around. The rather fascinating creature that is Sophie Dunér…..”
Cadence Magazine (N.Y, USA)
“A singer of astonishing range and technique, a composer and a creative musician with unusual ideas. Dunér is one of the most interesting singers I’ve heard recently.”
Read full article
Svenska Dagbladet (SE)
“…the passionate and wild jazz singer Sophie Dunér.”
Monday Afternoon Classics with Gandalf/WJFF Radio (N.Y, USA)
“Sophie Dunér is a composer of extraordinary talent – her music was widely praised by our listeners.”
Music Zoom (IT)
“Brilliant & innovative….Sophie Dunér has achieved something monumental.”
(For English translation, scroll downwards on “News”.)
Monday Afternoon Classics with Gandalf/WJFF Radio (N.Y, USA)
“A true renaissance woman – her singing is really post-modern jazz style, while the instrumental accompaniment is post-modern classical.”
Svenska Dagbladet (Stockholm, Sweden)
“…one of the most consistent iconoclast jazz singers in this country – 5 stars.”
Touching Extremes (Italy)
“…an artist who doesn´t need stilettos and tit-asphyxiating dresses to allure the listener, leaving that task to the genuine curiosity that the music generates.”
All About Jazz Italia (IT)
“…..writing incisive, humorous, diverse, sometimes minimalist at times surrealist.”
Read full article
Musenblätter (Germany)
“An exceptional artist, a vocal virtuoso, an outstanding talent – at eye level with Kurt Weill, Lennon/McCartney, Gordon Sumner, Ricky Lee Jones and Kate Bush.”
Read full article
English version
All About Jazz Italia (IT)
“A multifaceted, fascinating singer with an extraordinary vocal technique, a witty writer, self-confident composer, sophisticated arranger.”
Read full article
English version
Tokafi (DE)
“A stunningly multi-talented one-woman-army of singer, composer, painter and inventive arranger.”
Temporary Fault (IT)
“Brecht and Hendrix with strings in a jazz club….thick substance and a distinct personality………..excellent work, worthy of the utmost attention.”
The Expressionist (USA)
“Unique and fresh-reminds me of an era with strong vocal artists, now legends like Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby, and Johnnie Mathis, but with a modern tone. 5 stars.”
Tidningen Kulturen (ES)
“Between Kronos and Krause. Her vocal equilibrities and her capability to switch between different styles makes her one of the most interesting singers in our country.”
Read full Article / English version
Jazz.com (USA)
“……..a rare and exotic species. Such a discovery is the enigmatic Swedish singer, composer, poet and painter Sophie Dunér. Prolific, fearless and quirky.”
Jazz.com (USA)
“This remarkable talent wears many hats, including painter, poet and arranger .”
Folkword (DE)
“A fabulous singer with strong techniques and the capability to sing out of the heart. A beautiful album with intriguing compositions.”
Rootsy.nu (SE)
“Feline she switches from low-key & intimate into virtuoso pirouettes high up in the registers, as swift and imperceptibly as she slides from semi-smoky cabaret atmospheres into expressive atonalities. With a brilliant vocal art, prodigiously beautiful……..”
Read Full Article / English version
Scherzo (ES)
“Radiant, the sun shines on this CD by Sophie Dunér……….a creation inspired by material from the street that sounds in the speed of a carousel.”
Read Full Article / English version
Cuadernos de Jazz (ES)
“Sophie Dunér has a powerful voice: versatile, expressive and bombastic….the irony and the occasional melancholy flaneur of her lyrics are similar to the ones by Kurt Weill.”
Lena Margret Junoff, Duke Ellington singer
“Sophie is a fantastic virtuoso , something in between Alice Babs and Sarah Vaughan. If she had met Duke Ellington with me, he would have engaged her with his orchestra. A fantastic composer and lyricist. The lyrics are enormous, too much for me to handle. Ellington would have loved her madly. I agree with all the critics in New York and in Sweden.”
C.I.M.P, Records/ Bob Rusch (who has produced artists such as Chet Baker & Cecil Taylor) – CD RELEASE 2006, (Redwood, NY)
“I was impressed by her form-filling yet ethereal vocal integration within a jazz combo and also by her original compositions. Sophie is both a personal & original singer and a composer of substance. she has written over half of the tunes for this stunning release.”
All about Jazz Italia (IT)
“The answer to C.I.M.P and Bob Rusch, to Blue Note and Norah Jones is called Sophie Dunér.”
Cadence Magazine (N.Y, USA)
“…..her sensibility and smarts are what make her songs — and they contribute crucially to making this record . Duner behaves according to the familiar credos of Modern Art….”
Cadence Magazine (N.Y, USA)
“….her cryptic lyrics explore the vagaries of male-female relationships with a wryness, authenticity & humor that springs from real life….interesting writing ably performed by four excellent musicians.”
Nordische Musik (DE)
“…..unusual is the Swedish singer Sophie Dunér, she is much more than just a ( jazz ) singer. With her incredible width, the possibilities of her voice and loads of imagination, she creates her own song universe between jazz, chanson, folk and fast poetry slam.”
Read full article / English version
Ingvar Loco Nordin, SONOLOCO RECORD REVIEWS 2006 (SE)
“When it comes to Sophie’s achievements they are marvellous. Her texts are fascinating, head-on, humorous, venomous, intelligent, funny and with that dark, serious strike that raises them out of the present,to a common ground without genres or brands, where the songs live their own life and stand their ground. Her melodies are almost all of the time plain hit material, and her singing, not least, is wonderful, brilliant, sexy and melancholy – and her phrasing is out of this world!”
Dusted Magazine 2006 (USA)
“Sophie Dunér comes up with something personal and persuasive to say. I hear some of Joan Armatrading in her warm, folksy way of phrasing a lyric and lacing it with falsetto trills. There’s a little Anita O’Day in there too, with a sassy insouciance sharpening some of her turns of verse. Dunér’s songsmithing is suitably idiosyncratic with imagery that leaves much to the imagination. “Jack the Ripper” finds her dealing in Yma Sumac-evocative octave leaps. The follow-up “Lonely Woman” copped from the Horace Silver songbook not Coleman, reminds me of the mellower side of Patty Waters mixed with Nina Simone.”
Other reviews & comments:
Ingvar Loco Nordin, Music Critic, Sonoloco Record Reviews (Stockholm, SE)
“Listening to this Gummeson Gallery recording and working with the music and texts, it dawns upon me with brute force what an excellent, yes, brilliant, composer Sophie Dunér is, in a complete, genuine sterling way. Her texts – intelligent, biting, sardonic, parodic, humorous but also serious and gentle – are at one with her tunes, her arrangements, and such is the vibrant atmosphere around her creativity that I don’t fear to say that she is among the top ten writers of contemporary jazz tunes in the world. Furthermore, her interpretations of her own songs – her intonation, her phrasing, her absolute stage presence – set her apart from most of her comparable contemporaries; allows her a very special place in the limelight – and I can only wish that she will sweep the world into breathless surrender – because she’s worth it!”
Flora Purim, Brazilian Jazz Singer (USA)
“I am very impressed. Never stop writing and singing your own music – you are already apart of a very creative group called musicians.”
Südostschweiz Presse AG (CH)
” An outstanding voice. Her marvellous way of singing and her incredible voice reminds us of how much crap music we listen to every day through the radio.”
ABC (ES)
” On stage, a nocturne and majestic voice such as the one of Karin Krogh or Sidsel Endressen, we have the young promising singer Sophie Dunér.”
Baadische Neuste (DE)
“I cant forget Sophie Dunér, the Swedish singer. She has an incredibly expressive voice and she was also convincing as a composer.”
All Music Guide, New York 1997 (USA)
“….with an intense vocal Spanish performance by Sophie Dunér.”
Bizcaya Buru Bazaar (ES)
“The strong and expressive force in the voice of Sophie Dunér are a few things that characterize the Art Trio….”
Orkesterjournalen (SE)
“Sophie Dunér came from Boston and was a success at the Stockholm Jazz Festival.”
Luís Escolar, composer of “Livin La Vida Loca” (ES)
“You are too good for the big record labels.”
Magnus Ereiksson, LIRA, SE
Frank Becker, Musenblätter,DE
(English translation by T.L Mazumdar www.tlwrites.com)
Sonic Adventures
The Fine Art of Scatting
Sophie Dunér plays with sound and the voice.
In spite of Sweden’s unconventional approach to the pandemic in comparison to the rest of central Europe, the limitations that artists around the world have been subject to were not something Sophie Dunér had been spared.
She chose to utilize this time to conceptualize a brand new project inviting guitarist Gene Pritsker, composer Mark Kostabi and lyricist Erik T. Johnson to collaborate on her new download-only album, ”Songs Eclectic”.
The result is a virtuosic sonic journey riding on vocals and guitar which reaffirms Sophie Dunér’s extraordinary artistic qualities.
”Robot in Love” opens with machinesque poetry and acoustic climaxes hinting at Kraftwerk leanings. Followed by ”Slippery Slope”, where expansive vocal-overdub tapestries reveal an overall aural approach that sets the mood for the album. All the while with Gene Pritsker’s guitar strains assuming the role of an acoustic twin-flame of sorts to this unique voice. ”Sophisticated Love” being another example that stands testimony to this.
To quote my earlier review of (her last album) ”The City of Dizzy”:
”..this is virtuosic through and through – and a little bizarre; beautifully bizarre to be precise”.
Sophie Dunér keeps singing her futuristic lines consistently, presents her gorgeous scats and close-to-unbelievable octave jumps. She whispers, squeaks, roars, growls, hums, and swings.
After a somewhat restrained ”Funeral Blues”, ”Beating Pulse” drives the energy right back up to the top. While ”Wake Up World” makes a sophisticated appearance, ”Mardi Gras” is a more cheerful March where Gene Pritsker unpacks his multi-instrumentalist skills and Sophie conjures up images of the eternal Carnival on the streets of Katrina-stricken New Orleans.
One of my favorite pieces on the album is the versatile, virtuosity-ridden ”Dizcharmed” (featuring Sophie’s whistling).
The album ends with a very zeitgeist-relevant reference to US ongoings through the piece ”What Matters”. (The only catch with this particular piece being that I don’t understand a word of the poetry and would have liked to have access to the script). But that does not undermine the exceptional vocal artistry of this Swedish singer in any manner.
A very unusual and very impressive album. Highly recommended by Musenblättern.