Lucky To Be Me [CD]

Swedish vocalist Anna Pauline celebrates over two decades in jazz with her new album, Lucky To Be Me, out June 26 on Storyville Records. The album is a culmination of years of artistic exploration, mentorship, and collaborative discovery. It features standout performances, including a trumpet solo by jazz legend Randy Brecker on Pauline's original composition Just One Song and a duet with Janis Siegel of the Manhattan Transfer on the title track.This 10-track recording includes one original composition and nine interpretations of jazz standards, cinematic favorites, and musical theatre classics. The repertoire reflects Pauline's deep engagement with the Great American Songbook, the narrative richness of musical theatre, and the improvisational possibilities of jazz. Each track captures a moment of musical conversation and spontaneous discovery, anchored by Pauline's luminous voice and emotional depth.The project gained momentum in 2023, when Pauline met Siegel in Sweden through pianist Mattias Nilsson. Their first duet sparked a musical understanding that quickly evolved into mentorship and collaboration. Siegel later introduced Pauline to pianist, arranger, and producer John Di Martino, whose arrangements and artistic direction shape the album's sound. Di Martino assembled a group of top New York jazz musicians and crafted each arrangement to showcase both Pauline's voice and the ensemble's improvisational interplay. The sessions were recorded in New York with a strong emphasis on live interaction, allowing the music to unfold naturally.For Pauline, Lucky To Be Me realizes a long-held dream while marking a personal and musical turning point. Recording in New York, the birthplace of much of the music that inspired her, was both symbolic and deeply meaningful. Working closely with Di Martino, Pauline blended her Nordic sensibility with the rhythmic vitality and storytelling of American jazz. This creative dialogue has produced arrangements that honor the original material while highlighting her distinctive interpretive voice.This collaborative approach shape the album's repertoire, which combines an original composition with reinterpretations of classics from jazz, film, and musical theatre. Tracks like Leonard Bernstein's Lucky To Be Me and Michel Legrand's Les Parapluies de Cherbourg showcase Pauline's capacity to inhabit each song fully, while Rodgers & Hammerstein's The Sound of Music and Josef Myrow's Autumn Nocturne highlight her subtle phrasing and improvisational creativity. Collaborators including saxophonist Aaron Heick, trumpeter Freddie Hendricks, and percussionists Khalil Kwame Bell and Vince Cherico bring drive and textural richness to each performance.Recorded at Trading 8s Recording Studio in New Jersey, with duets tracked in Sweden, and mixed and mastered by Dave Darlington at Bass Hit Studio in New York City, the album unites two musical worlds: a Nordic jazz voice in dialogue with American tradition, enriched by mentorship and musical lineage. Lucky To Be Me is a celebration of connection, creativity, and the joy of jazz storytelling, bringing together musicians, traditions, and generations in a shared musical journey.