Jönköpings-Posten 140301
By: HANS JÄREBY
Concert
Helen Sjöholm
Where: Spira/concert hall
Musicians: Jojje Wadenius, guitar, Martin Östergren, piano, Ulric Johansson, bass, Tomas Bergquist, percussion
*****
An unprecedented Friday evening at Spira that made all hairs stand on end and eyes fill with tears. It was Helen Sjöholm who achieved this in yours truly, and it’s Helen’s amazing voice that is the cause. A voice with a big range where the voice is clear as a bell in the entire registry and which she treats with both authority and delicacy.
But it’s not just the voice, but the way in which she takes the stage and faces her audience. She is full of energy and you see how she enjoys every breath, every note and word that flows out between her lips. Helen Sjöholm possesses a great musical range and tonight’s audience really gets to enjoy that. No musical genre is alien to her, whether it includes ballads, musical tunes, or a classic tune written in the 1700s. We are also offered songs by Joni Mitchell, Billy Joel and Elvis Costello and the all too soon deceased Judee Sill, but also a potpourri of old Swedish songs.
Helen sings “Vårvindar friska” (which you have heard since childhood) in a way I’ve never heard it performed before. The song starts with Ulrik Johansson on bass, and then Helen interprets it with such emotion that you almost feel what happens in nature, you feel both the spring winds and the fresh spring fragrance. Exquisitely interpreted and followed by more songs from the Swedish song treasure including “Här är gudagott att vara”.
It’s not only Helen who shines. The quartet that accompanies her are no nestlings, they’ve grown up with the music and tell us in what way, and show us what they can do. Jojje Wadenius impresses with his song “Kärleksmorgon” and Östergren shines on the piano with his piece from the musical Peter Pan.
Helen also provides a taste of the musical “Livet är en schlager” based on Jonas Gardell’s movie of the same name but now with a new script, to premiere in the autumn and starring among others Helen Sjöholm.
Tonight’s all samples offer all genres and nothing is foreign. She possesses that unique ability to take a sprawling and varied material and mold it to her own personal interpretation full of joy. Cat Stevens’ “Moonshadow” or Laleh’s “Vårens första dag”, the artist Sjöholm offers an entire show with smalltalk, gambit and beautiful singing with edge with her unique voice, which sometimes discerns an ounce of suitable melancholy.
The evening’s last song is “Gabriellas sång”, but the audience is not satisfied yet. “Du är min man”, which has been played on the radio so much that you’ve become fed up with it, turns out to be something completely different live, it’s a gem in its kind, but the final is “Vår sista dans” and to standing ovations several times over. This really beats after work this Friday. Imagine that you would be leaving with “Du är min man” ringing in your head this evening.