Quick, name a female jazz vocal group - not counting those World War II-era sister trios. How about one that performs ancient Greek poetry and sea shanties in English, Finnish and Swedish?
Signe isn't really a jazz group, though the quartet does perform at jazz clubs and events. Mostly a cappella, their sound mingles folk, pop, barbershop and choral singing.
Their debut album features swooping vocal pyrotechnics worthy of vocalese group Lambert, Hendricks & Ross or fellow Finns Tuuletar. Their satiny close harmony turns shrill and cartoony on Cretan Girls, which wears thin after a few listens, though.
While Sappho's poems were originally sung accompanied by a lyre, these are accompanied by New York bassist Kaisa Mäensivu of the group Kaisa's Machine. Her supple stand-up bass anchors the set to the jazz tradition, as does vibraphone by Panu Savolainen of the trio Herd. He appears on Tulevaisuuteni, based on a 1925 poem [Tulevaisuuden varjo] by Edith Södergran, which features sublime scat and call-and-response vocals.
01 In A Dream 02 Cretan Girls 03 Puhun Totta 04 Ode To Aphrodite I 05 Ode To Aphrodite Ii 06 Ode To Aphrodite Iii 07 Ambrosia 08 Se Kuuluu Jumaliin 09 O Aphrodite 10 Signe Feat. Panu Savolainen - Tulevaisuuteni