The Real Group - jazz: live (1996)

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The Real Group - jazz: live (1996)

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The Real Group - jazz: live (1996)

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The Real Group is one of the premier vocal jazz ensembles in the world.

"At the core of this quintet's repertoire are the standards on which every jazz artist, foreign or domestic, eventually must prove his mettle. To hear the Real Group swing their own transcriptions of big-band Basie classics, to hear them dispatch their harmonically plush version of Bill Evans' 'Waltz for Debby' [is] to marvel at their understanding of the nuances of this music." -Chicago Tribune

To our way of thinking The Real Group is the current jazz standard by which other groups must be judged. They are that good. Each of the members was admitted to The Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm where they met. The five formed the group in 1984. Since the beginning of their professional career they have sold more than 200,000 albums, performed more than 1,000 live shows and worked with great musicians like George Martin, Bobby McFerrin, Barbara Hendricks and Toots Thielemans. Generally they perform a cappella, but they have performed with symphony orchestras, big bands and choirs as well as other well known musicians.

In a way it isn't a surprise, looking backward that these five musicians would be superb in their singing, for they are all immensely talented. Margareta Jalkeus grew up in a musical family and began playing piano and singing at an early age. Since twelve she has played harp with such proficiency that her skills have been utilized by some famous orchestras, when she has time away from solo performance, that is. Katarina Stenstrom has been singing since she was eight years old. She played piano and studied cello for a while but it has been the vocals where her interests lie. She founded a band named Donna Lee which signed a contract with Polygram and has worked as a background vocalist for a number of Swedish artists. Anders Edenroth spent five years at The Royal Academy, planning to be a pianist. He met the group and became a singer instead. Anders Jalkeus was introduced to folk music by his parents and began to play the violin and piano at six years old. By the time he came to the Academy, he could play almost any instrument. At school his studies focused on singing and he graduated as a cantor. His vocal interests have also extended toward several choirs with whom he's worked. Peder Karlsson, who loves books as much as music, plays guitar, piano, and loves the violin. That is a lot of musical background in one group!

Since their first recording in 1987, which was totally self produced, they have produced seven albums for the Swedish market, one specifically for the U.S. market, Unreal, which takes several songs from prior releases, and one for the European market, Get Real, which does similarly. Their recordings first made their mark in the larger a cappella world in 1994. We can tell, for in 1995 they began winning an unprecedented string of CARA Awards with two that year, Best Contemporary Cover for "Dancing Queen" and Best Jazz Song for "Flight Of The Foo-birds." In l996 Margareta Jalkeus was awarded Best Female Vocalist. l997 was the year of The Real Group as far as CARAs go. They won Live Album of the Year, Best Original Pop Song, Best Jazz Song and Margareta won Best Female Vocalist for the second year in a row! Unreal! 1998 saw them win yet another award for Best Holiday Album.

It is our opinion that they are absolutely worthy of all the attention their performances and recordings have garnered.

Personnel:
Anders Edenroth - counter tenor;
Peder Karlsson - tenor;
Anders Jalkeus - bass;
Margareta Jalkeus - soprano;
Katarina Henryson - alto.