Young At Heart Ida Sand
- 1 Cinnamon Girl 03:33
- 2 Hey Hey, My My 03:14
- 3 Don't Let It Bring You Down 04:25
- 4 Harvest Moon 04:45
- 5 Woodstock 03:24
- 6 Birds 03:30
- 7 Only Love Can Break Your Heart 03:48
- 8 Ohio 04:02
- 9 Old Man 03:29
- 10 Helpless 04:32
- 11 War of Man 04:16
- 12 One of These Days 04:22
- 13 Sea of Madness 03:30
Info for Young At Heart
Ida Sand has always been good for a surprise or two. When she presented her ACT debut 'Meet Me Around Midnight' in 2007 at the age of 29, after studying at the University of Gothenburg's conservatory and then learning the ropes in the Stockholm jazz scene, it sounded so different than one would have expected from a Swedish vocalist: not an ethereal, 'Nordic' pop-jazz, but pure soul, fueled by her dramatic timbre. Gospel and soul music greats like Nina Simone, Etta James and Aretha Franklin, Sam Cooke, Donny Hathaway and Stevie Wonder had been Sand's early influences, and Sand has repeatedly reworked songs from these role models on her three ACT albums 'into sparkling gems, with her dark, power-velvet voice,' as the Financial Times so aptly put it. The press and the public both agreed that in Ida Sand they had heard a new 'great white soul voice'.
Sand had already included an interpretation of the Neil Young classic 'Heart of Gold' on her album 'True Love', however that Sand would now dedicate the entire 'Young At Heart' album to the Canadian folk-rocker and singer-songwriter legend was entirely unexpected.
“They often say that the mentality of Sweden and Canada are quite similar to each other. Our countries have the same kind of climate and not seldom Swedish and Canadian culture have been described as ”melancholic”. Neil Young is Canadian and has been one of the greatest, most productive, influential lyricists and musicians of our time. He has enriched the music world by putting words and melodies to the human and existential questions that we all share. To me, that has been the traction of this project. To capture the melancholy, which actually is a strong parameter of my DNA too.”
In her own way she combed through Neil Young's opulent oeuvre, so characterized by style breaches and experiments as it is: 'It is the lyrics I pay most attention to, then the feel and the energy that a song exudes. If it resonates with something in me, I sit down at the piano. I never filter out the chords of the original, because I don't want to adulterate my first impression. I try to improvise and sing it in my key, and then I just let it grow from there.'
Sand mastered the challenge with seasoned support. Her mentor Nils Landgren again took on the producer role for 'Young At Heart', and also added his distinctive soul trombone and unmistakable voice to the equation. Ida Sand's husband Ola Gustafsson, who was already right at the heart of her 'True Love' album, acts as a kind of Neil Young alter ego on the guitars, leading the excellent band, which is made up of Jesper Nordenström on keyboards and organ, drummer Christer Jansson and e.s.t. bassist Dan Berglund. Tenor saxophonist Per 'Texas' Johansson, renowned for his soul sound and Sven Lindvall on the e-bass joined the party as guests, along with famous Swedish Rock singer Bo Sundström and background vocalists.
“It has been such a great experience for me to dive into the music of Neil Young. I’m Swedish and I’ve done my best to keep the essence of the music intact, but with a new and personal twist.” Sand can rest assured that she has succeeded, be it on classics like 'Cinnamon Girl', 'Harvest Moon' or 'Helpless', on intimate ballads like 'Birds', tempo-groove numbers like 'Sea Of Madness', folk protest songs like 'War Of Man' or on lavish rock anthems like 'Ohio'.
Welcome to the vibrant, powerful, epic world of Neil Young!
Ida Sand, vocals, piano
Jesper Nordenström, keyboards
Ola Gustafsson, guitars
Dan Berglund, acoustic bass
Christer Jansson, drums, percussion
Additional musicians:
Sven Lindvall, electric bass
Per Texas Johansson, tenor saxophone
Nils Landgren, trombone & vocals
André De Lange, background vocals
Paris Renita, background vocals
Bo Sundström, vocals
Recorded by Janne Hansson at Atlantis Studios Stockholm, September 23 - 27, 2014
Mixed by Ronny Lahti
Mastered by Klaus Scheuermann
Produced by Nils Landgren
Executive Producer: Siggi Loch
Ida Sand
was born in 1977 into a very musical family in Stockholm. Her family roots lie in Piteå, a town in the far north of Sweden.
Ida’s father was a well-known opera singer who sang at the Stockholm Opera for 30 years, her mother is still an active church musician. Both parents were a strong inspiration for young Ida.
She started playing the cello at age 8 but the instrument did not leave much of an impression. Instead, Ida spent more and more time at the piano, singing along while tinkling the keys for hours. She did not let her mum teach her, she wanted to learn for herself and so she did.
At 16, Ida went to study at the music gymnasium in Stockholm and two years later, she went on to the Academy of Music in Gothenburg, where she immersed herself in the city’s lively jazz scene.
As fascinating as jazz was to Ida, her musical influences remained Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway and Aretha Franklin. After graduating in 2000, she worked continually, spending her time doing nightclub gigs, playing piano bars and soul clubs. Always busy, always learning.
Since Ida started her career as a freelance singer and keyboard player, she has worked with the cream of the crop of the music scene in Sweden: Christian Waltz, Stephen Simmonds, Carola, Lisa Nilsson, Eric Gadd, Bo Kaspers, Jerry Williams, Uno Svenningsson, Jennifer Brown and Nils Landgren, to mention a few.
In spring 2007 Ida’s debut album Meet Me Around Midnight (ACT 9716-2) was released and critics and music lovers felt confident. “Ida Sand sings with power and she is the most soulful white female singer to come along in some time”, said JAZZ PODIUM.
Ida’s second album True Love (ACT 9481-2) was released in 2009. It takes on an even more personal sound than her previous work – one reason for this is that in the interim period Sand has become the mother of a baby girl. True Love is produced by her husband, the guitar player Ola Gustafsson. At the album’s core are five outstanding original compositions, framed by classics from a variety of genres – a very personal declaration of love to her family, the music, and the world
With her third album “The Gospel Truth” (ACT 9725-2), released in September 2011, Ida Sand fulfils a long harboured dream: to unite her three great musical influences – jazz, gospel and soul – with her own personal signature. The album was produced by Nils Landgren who is also involved as a musical guest as is guitarist Raul Midón, singer Rigmor Gustafsson, saxophonist Magnus Lindgren and guitarist and Ida Sand’s husband Ola Gustafsson." class="ng-binding ng-scope">Ida Sand & Johan Norberg
Booklet for Young At Heart