Sweden, 2007, avant-garde jazz / vocal jazz

Paavo – Paavo: With strong avant-prog flourishes and stylings on vocal jazz, this album is the brainchild of Ethiopian-born Swedish vocalist Sofia Jernberg and Swedish pianist Cecilia Persson. Basically, they are each responsible for writing about every other song on the album, giving us alternating glimpses into their individual styles. Like a lot of avant-prog, the lyrics are often whimsical nonsense, and the wild music bursts out of quieter phrases like a madman escaping the looney bin. Insanely playful in its exactitude, reminding me a bit of Henry Cow. This is where female vocals meet acute angles and nearly hyperventilate.