Born in 1970 in Berne, Switzerland, Swiss/Dutch jazz vocalist Susanne Abbuehl showed an interest in music at a very young age, composing songs and writing lyrics as a small child, as well as studying harpsichord. She moved to Los Angeles in 1987 to study voice and spent time touring the United States and Canada with a jazz group. She later returned to Europe, studying jazz and classical voice, including North Indian classical voice, at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague. In 2001, Abbuehl released April on ECM, earning enthusiastic reviews and comparisons to other modern-day female jazz vocalists like Cassandra Wilson and Norah Jones. Compass, also on ECM, followed in 2007. Abbuehl toured Europe extensively over the next few years, with her band undergoing a metamorphosis. While pianist Wolfert Brederode remained, she enlisted flügelhorn player Matthieu Michel in 2009 and young Finnish drummer/percussionist Olavi Louhivuori (Tomasz Stanko, Marilyn Crispell) a bit later. Her next offering, The Gift, appeared on ECM in June of 2013. ~ Tom Demalon