LILLY: Tenderly featuring Gilad Hekselman

It all starts with a song. Two people and song. Gilad and Lilly. Guitarist and singer. One visiting Denmark as an artist in residence and the other living there. One among the foremost exponents of modern jazz guitar and the other an acclaimed vocalist and singer/songwriter, but still a secret outside her country.

Here they are on the album Tenderly. The result of a day's work in the studio with songs that are the work of a lifetime. Timeless songs. Duke Ellington's "Day Dream" and standards like "You Go to My Head" and "Skylark," but also more recent classics like the folk-icon Nick Drake's poetic "Voice from the Mountain."

Lilly, whose full name is Lilly-Ann Hertzman, and Gilad Hekselman sing these songs tenderly. Hekselman creates a lush tapestry of tones, a gentle architecture that supports the songs without holding them down to the ground. Along with Lilly, they fly into the sky and sunset. Tender songs. Songs of loving and living. A setup so simple and yet so complex. Phrasings filled with an understanding of space and pause. Guitar lines and vocal chords. Guitar chords and vocal lines. A symbiosis, a deep conversation, not chitter-chatter. Poetry sung tenderly.