How Do You Pronounce Her Name?

In this blog I want to cover, what is for me a new talent, although she has been around for a while.  This is one of those artists I discovered by accident, trolling for new song material.  At the time I was listening to and searching for various versions of Burt Bacharach songs.  I am always impressed with the melodies and lyrics in Burt Bacharach pieces.  Random trolling is how I make my best discoveries. 

This artist is not from the United States.  I have never heard her material on the radio, although I don't listen to many stations.  However, I never see her material being promoted on most of the music sites.  She often performs songs in her native language but, being American and English being my native tongue, I have a bias for the pieces she performs in English.  Her voice is so powerful that I would hope that in the future she will gain a greater world following.

This artist was born in 1973 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.  This is the year I graduated from high school, so she is an example, to me at least, of a younger artist performing in a style that hearkens back to earlier times.  In her biography we are told that her father is a theologian and her mother is a flutist with the Amsterdam Promenada Orchestra.  Her influences include Billie Holiday and George Gershwin and it is said that she favors jazz vocals, although she performs pop material as well.  In fact one of her latest releases could be called Netherlands hip hop.  In her younger years she formed a band with her brother, so this is definitely a musical family.

She has collaborated with Burt Bacharach on more than one album and he plays piano backup for her on several numbers.  In investigating her discography I see she has gold albums and at least one double platinum album (A Burt Bacharach Collaboration), so she is probably more well known than I thought, but perhaps not so well known in the U.S.  In the 90's she toured with jazz saxophonist Candy Dulfer and more recently Lionel Richie released a live track in which he performs a duet with this artist (Face In The Crowd).  In a small way I hope my blog can gain her some more recognition, because her talent should be shared with a wider audience. 

Okay, I suppose you want to know the name of this artist.  Her name is Trijntje Oosterhuis and you will have to watch one the clips below to hear how her name is pronounced.  Even after hearing it, I'm not sure I could pronounce it right.  But strange name or not, what a voice.  Also, I must also mention the wonderful backup orchestration on the Burt Bacharach numbers.  They truly give a new and unique take on well known songs that have been performed by many other artists previously.

I notice on this album that they've done a phonetic spelling of Trijntje's name so poor English speaking people like me can pronounce it.   To continue, probably my favorite pieces are found on two of Trijntje's albums, Look of Love: Burt Bacharach Songbook and Who'll Speak For Love.  I think every track on these albums is great.  My favorites on the first album include Do You Know The Way To San Jose?, Look Of Love, House Is Not A Home, I Say A Little Prayer For You, I'll Never Fall In Love Again, Walk On By, Anyone Who Had A Heart, and (They Long To Be) Close To You. 

My favorites on the second album include Any Day Now, What The World Needs Now, One Less Bell To Answer, In Between The Heartaches, God Give Me Strength, I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself, and Don't Make Me Over.

Enjoy a couple of her hits from a live performance: