Jazz vocalist and songwriter Malene Kjærgård is predicted to be a new star on the international jazz sky. On her debut record &rdquoHappy Feet&rdquo she is accompanied by some of the most charismatic musicians on the Danish Jazz scene at the moment &ndash all musicians that Malene has been touring with during the past years. In november 2012 Malene won the second prize in the competition &rdquoYoung Jazz Composer of the Year&rdquo in Copenhagen with one of the songs from the record and got to perform with the Danish Radio Big Band.

Since her debut performance at the famous Jazz Club La Fontaine in Copenhagen in 2010, Malene has been contacted by several jazz clubs and musicians who want her to perform. The reason is namely that Malene possess a special presence in her voice and is capable of capturing her audience's attention with her interpretive story telling. Besides that Malene possesses great vocal abilities and always enchants her audience with her skills.

On the debut record &rdquoHappy Feet&rdquo Malene is telling stories from her own life through the songs she has composed herself. Namely &ldquofeet&rdquo has been a topic of concern to Malene the past years. On her way to a gig at the Jazz Club La Fontaine in Copenhagen a couple of years ago, Malene is hit by a car. Prior to the accident Malene has already spend one and a half years recovering from an accident and a surgery in her right ancle. As she sees her right foot being run over by the tire of a car she has to face the fact that she has to go through yet another harsh period of rehab. The accident also means that Malene has to cancel an upcoming tour in Brazil with the famous guitarist Jacob Fischer. After a visits at the hospital, she leaves with a foot in plaster and some crutches to La Fontaine where she chooses to perform a couple of Christmas Songs for the waiting audience. During the first period of Rehab Malene has come to the conclusion that the only thing that will get her back on her feet is the joy she gets from singing! She goes through yet another surgery, but this time she uses her rehab period not only for recovering but also on preparing the recording of her debut record. Malene uses songwriting to cope with the situation.

On &rdquoHappy Feet&rdquo Malene shows that she possess great musical and personal maturity despite her young age. Although the instrumentation changes from song to song, the authority in Malene&rsquos voice assures that we as listeners are not confused, but kept safe through the many exciting musical landscapes and stories. On the standard "Skylark" the soundscape is open and airy: Malene is only accompanied by Mads La Cour (flügelhorn) and Peter Rosendal (piano), and we meet the full band on Malene&rsquos own song "Happy Feet" and on the standard "After You've Gone ".

The record is a celebration of life: a trip to the mother country of jazz and blues: USA in the song "Rhode Island Is Famous For You", a story about falling in love in the song "Temporary Love Affair," with which Malene won the second prize in the competition &rdquoYoung Jazz Composer of the Year&rdquo in Copenhagen. A standard about enjoying simplicity: "Give Me the Simple Life", but there are also songs about not getting dreams fulfilled: "There Should Be" by Malene, and the struggle of love in singer and saxophonist Mads Mathias' contribution to the record: "As Close as a Mile".

1. Temporary Love Affair

2. Give Me The Simple Life

3. Happy Feet

4. I'm Hip

5. After You've Gone

6. Skylark

7. As Close As A Mile

8. Rhode Island Is Famous For You

9. There Should Be

10. Undecided

Calibrated