Joy Meantime ****

First time on CD for this late 1960s album, which confirmed Krog as a force to be reckoned with in jazz singing. If Krog's delivery owed something to Billie Holiday, her approach involved her fully as another instrument in a musical dialogue that included Jan Garbarek (tenor) and Arild Andersen (bass) as part of a sextet. Yet the instrumental approach was not at the expense of the lyrics, where these applied. There is drama and a lived-in, worldly-wise sense about superbly personal interpretations of Lazy Afternoon, an onanistically charged Mr Joyand, from a live date with Andersen, Svein Christiansen (drums) and a second bassist, Palle Danielsson, a magnificently poised and laid back Round About Midnight. And there is a fine Maiden Voyageand a wild, largely free Karin's Mode, to show what Krog can do as a scat singer. A pair of bonus tracks with Ted Curson round it all out.

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