Norwegian actress debuts as a jazzsinger on new EP

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Tiril Heide-Steen is best known as an actress in Norway, and has play at many theaters. She is also a famous voice actor, so she has a lot of experience in using her voice in many different contexts. Today her debut EP "Favorites" is out, there she shows a new side of her register by finding her voice as a jazz singer.

The entire EP is in a stripped-down musical landscape with only double bass, grand piano and Tiril on vocals. The aim is to let the old, well-known and beloved songs shine in their purest form. She has interpreted the classics with a view to safeguarding them so that they can be discovered by new listeners, but also so that the ears of already jazz lovers can appreciate completely new versions of the standards.

A good example of this is the first track and the single, Tiril's version of "Everytime We Say Goodbye":

- The first single "Everytime We Say Goodbye" (Not Ev´ry Time that is) is a well-known standard song that I have wanted to record for a long time, of which many of my vocal idols have done wonderful versions. For me, this is a beautiful and well-written song that deserves to be dusted off and shown to a younger audience. At the same time, I also hope that the generation that has a relationship with the song will be happy with our version. My motto is that a really good song can't be done too often!

The release is a tribute to her father, who was the one who originally introduced her to the genre. The last track on the EP is a lovely version and duet of "You Must Believe in Spring" together with father - the popular Norwegian actor and comedian; Harald Heide-Steen jr. He introduced his daughter Tiril to jazz at an early age: 

- I have found an old sound recording of my father. It is a recording he made in 2008 just right before he died. I have added my own vocals and created a new duet with his vocals from 2008 and my vocals from 2023. In this way, the song has become like a conversation. I was introduced to jazz music by my father and can thank him for my interest (and musicality). For me, this entire EP is a tribute to him.

In collaboration with pianist Anders Aarum and double bass player Marius Reksjø, Tiril has arranged and produced "Favorites". Both Aarum and Reksjø have worked with Tiril for several years and on many different projects in the past.

- I have great respect for my fellow musicians musically and this has been a dream project to work on. I have spent a lot of time finding my right expression as a jazz vocalist in the studio ahead of the recording and have had great fun doing this together with wonderful people.

Johan Hessel Jelonek has been the recording technician and mixer, and the mastering was done by Henning Bortne at Oslo Mastering.