April

April opened the curtain on Susanne Abbuehl’s first appearance on the ECM stage. The Swiss singer offers original settings of poems by e. e. cummings and sets her own to the music of Carla Bley. Pianist Wolfert Brederode, drummer Samuel Rohrer, and clarinetist Christof May add deft ornamentation to her scenography. Her lyrical makeover of Bley’s “Ida Lupino” is one of many surprises to enjoy, while “Seven” gets a spoken-word treatment with loving care. Yet it is Abbuehl’s re-imagining of “’Round Midnight,” accompanied only by harmonium, that beguiles with its ability to pull something new from the old.