Koop's 2002 album, Waltz For Koop, came from out of the blue and captured extensive time on my stereo for much of 2011. Their music is difficult to categorize. Allmusic primarily labels Koop an "acid jazz" group, but for me, their music is fairly unique and enthralling. I first encountered their music while exploring youtube, and I was fortunate to have the first track I ever listened to be the title track of this album.
The guys in Koop have a tremendous knowledge of both the worlds of music and the recording process. They are from Sweden, and Oscar Simonsson and Magnus Zingmark are their names. The cd that I have is a 2002 release on Quango/Palm Records, and includes a bonus dvd with video of four tunes from the album. The insert on the album has a picture of Magnus and Oscar at a mixing board with large banks of computers behind them, like something out of a Sixties science fiction film.
The guys in Koop have a tremendous knowledge of both the worlds of music and the recording process. They are from Sweden, and Oscar Simonsson and Magnus Zingmark are their names. The cd that I have is a 2002 release on Quango/Palm Records, and includes a bonus dvd with video of four tunes from the album. The insert on the album has a picture of Magnus and Oscar at a mixing board with large banks of computers behind them, like something out of a Sixties science fiction film.
Waltz For Koop Album Cover
As may be heard from a close listen to the album, Waltz For Koop features some well known and not so well known jazz vocalists who are featured on various tracks. Cecelia Stalin and Yukimi Nagano were new artists when they contributed vocals to this album. Veteran singers Terry Callier and Earl Zinger wrote lyrics for their respective tunes, and are longtime jazz vocalists. A small combo of Dan Berglund on bass, Ola Bathzen on bongos, Magnus Lindgren on reeds and flutes, and Matias Stahl on vibes add jazz instrumentation to the vocals and electronic music onboard this album. The album won a Swedish Grammy and was Billboard's best selling Electronica album of 2002.
The title track, Waltz For Koop, is a lilting 3/4 time composition with a bassline similar to The Beach Boys' 1968 single Friends. Cecelia Stalin's vocal recalls Astrid Gilberto, but also she also contributes wordless scat singing. Synthesizers nest her vocal in lovely and warm tones that resolve beautifully. There is woodblock percussion, and the wordless bridge has a synthesized string section that might resemble a sunrise if it could be expressed in sound. It is entirely captivating and recurs in memory after a few listens.
The waltz time tune Tonight features Mikael Sundin as the vocalist. A beautiful baritone sax solo accompanies the vocalist on the tune's bridge. The song is warm, romantic, and is over before one can grasp all of it. As with Waltz For Koop, the song's lyrics are about a relationship's beginning. The vocalist sweetly reassures his new love that although his partner is quite sad that their evening has to come to an end, he will return again soon. He has a hard time leaving, as both people want more time.
Cecelia Stalin returns for Baby, the album's third tune. This time, the vocal protagonist in the romantic pair tries to reassure the previous vocalist from Tonight about their love. The song is quite uptempo, and continues the optimistic flow of the album's music and lyrics. A bass begins the tune, with synthesizers again providing a lush and warm background. Percussion plays against the bass, with a flute solo and scat singing making the bridge catchy and then the bass returns, followed by Cecelia Stalin's reprise of the lyrics. The bongos then return, followed by a keyboard chordal reprise of the melody.
The next tune is introduced by a man as Baby segues into Summer Sun. It is a wonderful uptempo workout. The Summer Sun reference is an allusion to the singer's love interest, who has knocked her off her feet into uncontrolled passion and desire. She seems to think that her partner is a rascal, but says that he or she belongs to her anyhow. There is a nice brassline that goes uncredited on the album's notes, followed by Yukimi Nagano's sexy jazz vocal. Once again she scats on the bridge with what sounds like vibes and initially a trumpet that then goes into extended keyboard work. Nagano repeats the song's lyrics to finish the tune, which is simply infectious to an extreme. Summer Sun is one of the songs featured as a video on the dvd accompanying the album.
Soul For Sahib is a bit of a departure, in that it is primarily instrumental with a badass flute accompanied by a bongos, drums, and bass. It is a tune that is bebop in nature, with the narrator explaining how he composes jazz. A few times during the tune, a horn part flares and then the bop resumes. The whole tune reminds me of several jazz artists just jamming together enjoying each other. Modal Mile features Earl Zinger vocally. It has a samba tempo that underlies Zinger's erotic lead vocal. It has a cool hornline that reprises the melodic base of the tune. The vibes on this tune float sinuously around the vocal. Zinger's vocal is contemplative in nature, yet, in the end, he decides to commit to the relationship's wild ride.
In a Heartbeat follows, a tune that has a bassline resembling the heartbeat in the song's title. Lyrically, the tune advises it's listener to live in the present, which keeps things free and loose. Percussion is important here, riffing off the steady heartbeat of the bass. There is a synthesizer tone that accompanies the chorus of the song which heightens the sexual tension of the lyrics. Terry Callier's lyrics and lead vocal amplifies the tension of attraction and being fully smitten with a loving partner. The tune celebrates the ecstasy of love, the yearning that comes when partners are apart but want to see each other....be with each other.....
Relaxin' At Club F****n' is the next to last song on the album. The tune begins with a thumping bass and synthesizer riff recalling a harp. A sax that could accompany an erotic video enters, and the picture is not difficult to imagine. The act of love with all of it's mystery and passion is expressed in this gorgeous and amazing tune. A vocalist simply repeats "All the colors are changin'....our love is here." The album has built to this tune which is the crucial and necessary center of the mystery of people in love.
Yukimi Nagano returns for Bright Nights, the album's closer. The tune has a persistent bass that keeps tempo against a syndrum. Vibes and Nagano's vocal wordlessly accompany them. The feel one gets is that the couple have made love, and want to spend the rest of the night with each other drinking in the sounds and sights of the club where they escaped and made love. The album, while not strictly a song cycle, celebrates love in it's music and lyrics as well as any I have heard. It would be worth noting that the music herein is not like Eighties Club Music, but recalls it's best aspects. If you are looking for something romantic, jazzy, and erotic, this album is for you.
Text copyright 2013 by Peter Reum-All Rights Reserved
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