Rigmor Gustafsson - Sweden's Voice of Jazz
It would not be presumptuous to characterize Rigmor Gustafsson as Sweden's Voice of Jazz. After her comprehensive education at the Royal Academy in Stockholm and her studies at various music schools in New York, her diverse projects and band collaborations have made her one of the showcase singers of Scandinavia. With her debut album on the German record label ACT she even ousted Norah Jones from the No.1 of the Swedish charts. In the Süddeutsche Zeitung, the music critic Werner Burkhardt declared her "Best Performer of the Year".
Since then many releases have appeared on the German jazz label and Rigmor Gustafsson was not only able to establish herself as a famous singer and interpreter and to earn the greatest honours for her work, she also received the Jazz Award in Sweden and Germany and she has also made a name for herself as a writer and composer.
Years ago already, her tributes to the great film-music-composer Michel Legrand and pop diva Dionne Warwick made it clear that Rigmor Gustafsson is capable of breathing a new soul, an expanded dimension into familiar material. Never is one left with the impression that a cheap, pale copy is presented, for Rigmor makes the songs fit like a glove.
In her concerts typical jazz numbers are followed by pop, blues and soul music, always captivatingly and powerfully sung. The original songs of such great pop musicians as Joni Mitchell, Kate Bush or Paul Simon seem to have been written for Rigmor Gustafsson's voice. She succeeds in singing Kate Bush’s very demanding “Wuthering Heights” with the same delicate intensity of a Swedish folk song.
Composed and self-confident, she blends her elegant timbre into the nuanced soundscape of her wonderfully playing band. Sometimes her vocal lines replace a guitar, sometimes she glides seductively through the sounds of the piano or competes with the drums in fast runs. Gustafsson and her accompanists savour every possibility, spanning the wide arch from up-beat numbers, to classic swing, light bossa-nova, down to earthy soul numbers, off-beat neo-blues and melancholic ballads.
Line Up
Rigmor Gustafsson - vocals
Jonas Östholm - piano
Martin Höper - bass
Chris Montgomery – drums
DOWNBEAT about the new record "Come Home"
"Working with a cadre of longtime lyricists, she funnels a deluge of new songs into a creative reservoir edged by the fabulous trio of Jonas Östholm on piano, Martin Höper on bass, and Chris Montgomery on drums. Behind Gustafsson’stechnical prowess beats a troubadour’s heart."
Rigmor Gustafsson Poster
Photos
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