Charllotte

As her source of inspiration, Charllotte names great artists like Joni Mitchell, Kate Bush, Wayne Shorter, Dianne Reeves, Silje Nergaard, Monika Zetterlund, Moloko, Massive Attack, Joe Jackson and Bobby mcFerrin. One might also notice the Scandinavian influences, gently woven into the jazz-flavoured background that she developed during her studies at Amsterdam’s famous Conservatory. Epecially Swedish Shepardmusic has been very influential to her unique tone and usage of voice.

Songwriter and vocalist Charllotte was born in the German town of Jever and grew up in several places in Germany and the UK. Thanks to her Swedish mother she also spent quite some time in Sweden. Aged nineteen she started singing in bands and soon would become fascinated by the German music-theater tradition of Brecht, Weil and Eisler. Soon after she would discover Jazz and win a prize in the City of Trier as a promising talent. She moved to Cologne, where she jumped right into the vivid jazz-scene, played in music-theater productions and enjoyed working as a streetmusician. More and more she would be singing in jazzcombos and big-bands. This was the time when Charllotte decided to build a professional career as a musician. She moved to Amsterdam where she would study at the famous Conservatory.
Here she would learn from the very best during clinics and masterclasses: Artists like Michiel Borstlap, Mark Murphy, Bobby mcFerrin, Dianne Reeves and Tuck & Patti.

Charllotte has to this day released three solo-albums and four EPs. On her debut ‘A Wish in the dark’ (2007) “her heart is clearly singing to us” (MusicfromNL). Platomania granted this CD as many as four stars and Charllotte (back then using her Swedish nickname as her stagename: Lotta) would be on tour with Dutch and International greats as Thijs Cuppen, Sven Schuster and Joost Kesselaar, performing at European festivals and the prestigious North Sea Round Town. Charllotte’s second CD, ’Vingar’ (‘Wings’), was released in 2010 and here she sings solely in Swedish. Together with the piano-virtuoso Kino Haitsma she performed in 2013 and 2014 as the piano-vocal duo “Kinolotta”.

Charllotte’s recent work features her selftitled album ‘Charllotte’ (April 2016). Here she showcases her diversity and achieves new depths as a songwriter as well as a vocalist. The album consists mainly of originals, the lyrics crafted in three languages: English, German and Swedish. Every language represents a part of Charllotte’s musical identity. Together with Dutch music-wonders Wilco Koster and Dave Sahanaja she created this music in a more electronic setting. The album-release took place in the sold-out Desmet Studios of Amsterdam, cheered on and celebrated by a wildly enthousiastic crowd.

An enthusiasm that was shared by the Dutch press:

“As if something completely natural is happening, something that just has to be there and that always was. …captivating and intimate, subtle, playful, honest, open and very musical!”
Frank Huser, Jazzflits

“The spot-on arrangements, the tasteful sound-production, Charllotte’s charactreristic voice and the shift that led to create a more pop-oriented vibe are showing us the direction that Charllotte can successfully take in the upcoming years.” RakenDRA Smit, Muziekwereld

“KOMM HER is intruiging. In her Swedish song VÄSTANVIK she displays a wide vocal range. And TRÖSTLÅT is a playful gem. She is vocally very able in general, this she demonstrates in the more jazz-oriented YOU ARE THE ONE.” Rik van Boekel, Jazzism ****