You Live Maria Roggen & Helge Lien

• 1 Cries Like A Baby 04:59
• 2 You 03:38
• 3 Scatterheart 06:22
• 4 Dynamite 06:52
• 5 Waterfall 05:53
• 6 Just A Little Teardrop 04:26
• 7 Should Have Known Better 02:17
• 8 All Our Treasures Lost 03:08
• 9 Er Jeg Den 06:07
• Total Runtime 43:42

Info for You

Rediscovering nordic classics: Just like an instrument, every language has it’s own unique sound. It can be fun listening to songs in other languages, even if you don’t speak a word of Italian, French or Arabic. Some lyrics though have been crafted so delicately and are so rich with details and images that it’s a shame they never make it across the language barrier.

This is true for many songs from Scandinavia, regardless of the genre. Singer Live Maria Roggen and pianist Helge Lien want to help some of these songs jump the language barrier with their new album „You“. On their debut „Låvesalg“ (2011) the Norwegian duo focussed on their mother tongue, whilst for „You“ the two Spellemansprisen-awarded musicians translated nine songs from Nordic songwriters into English. The result is as surprising as it is captivating. Only a few insiders outside Scandinavia will have heard of the likes of Jon Eberson, Sidsel Endresen and Roger Andreassen, but thanks to Live & Lien they can now compete with the great song-poets of past decades.

Songs like „Waterfall“, „Cries Like A Baby“ or the title track „You“ almost sound like forgotten classics. Some of the melodies and lyrics seem familiar, like musical postcards from the past. In part this is due to the outstanding song writing skills of the original artists, but the congenial translations and interpretations of Live & Lien definitely play a major role. Live Maria Roggen has the ability to switch between styles seamlessly. This is particularly impressive on „Scatterheart“, a song by Icelandic singer Björk. Roggen playfully integrates Björks eccentric style into her own, thus making the song her own. Throughout the whole album Roggen is in control at all times, showing a large scale of emotions. Next to Roggen, Helge Lien proves on „You“ why you might call him the single most important piano player in Norway today. He delicately creates spaces and atmospheres for Roggen, dynamically follows her lead, only taking the center of attention when it is necessary.

There is always joy in listening to a duo that creates this type of magic together, yet with Live & Lien the joy is paired with a sense of gratefulness. Their reinterpretations and translations opened a door for us to enjoy these beautiful songs and that is a reason to be grateful.

Live Maria Roggen, vocals
Helge Lien, piano

Recorded November 11–13 2015 and March 11 2016 in Propeller Music Division Studios, Oslo, Norway
Recording engineer: Michael Scott Hartung Mixed by Michael Scott Hartung
Mastered by Morgan Nikolaysen at Propeller Mastering
Produced by Kåre Christoffer Vestrheim

Live Maria Roggen
(born 22 March 1970 in Oslo) is a Norwegian jazz singer, songwriter and composer, educated at Foss High School (violin and vocals), sociology and Musicology intermediate at the University of Oslo and Jazz Line at Trøndelag Conservatory of Music (NTNU) (1995–98). Worked as Jazz and singing teacher at the Sund folkehøgskole, Høgskolen in Agder (music conservatory) and at Trøndelag Conservatory of Music (NTNU). Since 2006, Associate Professor, and is since 2012 Professor of jazz singing at the Norwegian Academy of Music.

Roggen first appeared in the duo Tu'Ba with the tuba player Lars Andreas Haug 1994. She helped start the band Wibutee in 1997-2000, and then was the lead singer of the Norwegian jazz band Come Shine 1998-2004. In 2003-08, she appeared with their own lyrics and compositions in the Live Band. In 2007, a solo disc Circuit songs which won Spellemannprisen the Norwegian Grammy Award in the Open class.

Since 2004, Roggen has been co-singer and one of the driving forces of the improvisational vocal ensemble Trondheim Voices, for whom she made the compositions. In 2009, Roggen and pianist Helge Lien formed the Norwegian-language duo Live/Lien that performs original music written to texts by Norwegian poets, cover songs and jazz tunes.

In addition to her own bands and groups Roggen have sung with, among other Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, the Norwegian Radio Orchestra, Trondheimsolistene, Bugge Wesseltoft, Tom Steinar Lund & Trio de Janeiro, deLillos and Leieboerne, and she has since 1996 been a backup singer in the group Young Neils. In 2008 and 2009 she participated in four tribute concerts For Radka together with Arild Andersen, Jon Eberson and Jon Christensen, including in the Norwegian National Opera. In 2006-2009 she sang the tango and jazz compositions in the Atle Sponberg and Frode Haltli s La Fuente. She participated in children's records Magiske kroker & hemmeligheter, (Egmont 2008) and Go'natt, (Jazzland/Universal 2009).

Helge Lien
jazz pianist and composer, holds a master degree in music from the Norwegian Academy of Music, where Russian pianist Misha Alperin was an inspiring mentor and teacher of improvisation.

The core of Lien’s work has since 1999 centered on the Helge Lien Trio, consisting of the classical jazz constellation piano, bass and drums. In 2008 the trio won the Norwegian Grammy for their album Hello Troll, and has achieved international acclaim following tours in Japan, Germany and Canada, among other places.

With Tri O’Trang (1998–2006), consisting of piano, saxophone and tuba, Lien has cultivated a more structural music with strong melodic as well as abstract features, in which composed and improvised elements are interwoven.

The duo HERO (2005–6), with saxophonist Rolf-Erik Nystrøm, focused on “contemporary music,” emphasizing atonal and arhythmic elements and extensive experimentation with timbre. During this period, the two musicians participated in folksong artist Jørn Simen Øverli’s project Prøysenvisene som forsvant (The Prøysen songs that disappeared).

Helge Lien has shown himself to be a musician who is not afraid to explore the borders between different musical genres, but whose basic sound as a jazz pianist is always a distinctive feature. Originally influenced by Bill Evans’ lyric-dynamic style of playing, he also shows affinity with Keith Jarrett’s narrative inventiveness and the subtle strophic expression of Brad Mehldau. Lien is a technically brilliant player, with a solid and rich sound. His resourcefulness and briskly responsive playing comes in extremely handy as a “composer of the moment” in all of his work.

Booklet for You