Zoshia : Moon Talk http://www.dragonjazz.com/nouveau.htm (translated from French) Sophie Tassignon has an individual voice, both clear and strong, but her style of singing is quite unique in that she uses her emotions to help her concentrate on the development of her art. Therefore, her singing can be unsettling and obsessive but at the same time fascinating. The original compositions, for which she writes all of the music and much of the lyrics (aside from those written by her father), are tortuous and don’t hesitate to combine rhythms and genres. However, it is on the slow pieces (superb For World Of Love and Care) that she is the most convincing: her voice becomes soothing and flutters in the air in infinite embelishments (it is called scat). One realizes then that even when she expresses herself in Russian (Anna with lyrics by Anna Akhmatova), one can fall for the enigmatic charms of those faint litanies, driving into an icy flow, like winter’s wind when the words glide for a long time on a unique note above the chords. The setting upon which she lays her melody is put together with an efficient trio featuring Christian Claessens on the piano in a fluid and held back style, Nico Manssens on drums and Steven Van Loy on electric bass, which reinforces the particular tone of the music and moves them a little away from the classic jazz trios with a singer. Self-produced, Moon Talk has a decent sound but it would have highly benefited from the advise of a professional producer and one can easily imagine what Manfred Eicher (ECM) could have made with such a substance. This first album asserts enough demand and originality to let you be dragged into this singular world.
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