Sidsel Endresen

Sidsel Endresen, the Norwegian vocalist who performs in English, stands among those 1990s figures whose work underscores how hard it has become to slot contemporary releases into conventional 20th-century genre boxes. Although she collaborates with established jazz players, her recordings resist jazz categorization. Experimental touches surface throughout, yet the material stays anchored in songs and reaches wider audiences than most “new music.” Rock and folk currents surface as well—her timbre strongly recalls Sandy Denny—yet any direct ties to those idioms remain even more remote.

A pair of her albums appeared on ECM and display certain signatures of the label’s hallmark spacious sonics while steering clear of emotional chill. Abstract words receive support from lean, jazz-tinged gestures that now and then edge into dissonance. Drummer Jon Christensen and cellist David Darling rank among the most familiar names on these sessions, which draw listeners outside the imprint’s customary following.