Although Belgium is not exactly far away for most Dutch people, the music scene there is significantly different. It is often described as more daring and experimental. It will be one of the reasons that originally Dutch singer Chantal Acda feels at home there. Although her record Silently Held can't exactly be called experimental, it does feel like a very organic marriage between pop and jazz. In
… another life, Acda's songs could have worked fine in a rock band - presumably they would not have been out of place on a CD by K's Choice (speaking of Belgium). But that is so not the case. With both Belgian and American top jazz musicians (such as guitarist Bill Frisell and multi-instrumentalist Shahzad Ismaily), Acda's music takes on an open and expansive character. With her quiet songs as the backbone, the musicians are given plenty of room to color in. If her band members have one thing in common, it is that they do so nicely dosed and in very tasteful ways. Acda and her Atlantic Drifters search for beauty and find it (JV).more
