Alice Babs has been one of Sweden's greatest singers, jazz and otherwise, since she was a teenager in the late 1930s. One of her admirers was
Duke Ellington, who used her voice on a few occasions through the years. Most of
Babs' records are quite worthwhile.
Illusion, however, is a weaker effort. One of the faults is the brevity of the performances. Only one song clocks in longer than 3:07. Another problem is that the many originals are just not that compelling.
Babs, who mostly sings in Swedish throughout, displays her usual beautiful voice, occasionally taking the role of a classical soprano singing wordless lines, while at other times she sounds like a folk singer. In her forties at the time of this 1966 set, she was right in her prime and sounds happy to show her versatility, but most of the material (the bulk of which was contributed by George Riedel) is just not worth it. ~ Scott Yanow