Ballads and Sallads - Rare Recordings of Scandinavian Vocal Jazz by Rigmor Gustafsson, Lina Nyberg, Sophie Duner, Sanni Orasmaa

mikapohjola.com)

Composer and pianist Mika Pohjola has lived in New York City for a decade. He has been part of the vibrant downtown jazz scene, explored natural and synthetic recording environments and worked as a lecturer in Europe and the United States. In addition to his New York home, he often goes to Scandinavia where he leads the Moomin Voices children's music group. Mika has released over a dozen CDs as composer, pianist and producer, and toured Europe, the United States, Japan and South America.

RIGMOR GUSTAFSSON - VOICE (www.rigmorgustafsson.com)

Rigmor's latest CD, "Close to you" with Jacky Terrasson Trio, which was released in November 2004 went very fast up to Number One on the jazz chart in Sweden, and shortly after the CD was nominated for a Grammy Award, and sold Gold."Close to you" is Rigmor's second CD since she signed with the German label ACT. It was recorded in three days in July 2004 together with Jacky Terrasson on piano, Sean Smith on bass, and Eric Harland on drums. Her first CD for ACT "I will wait for you" together with Nils Landgren and the Fleshquartet, received "The Jazz Award" in Germany, was also nominated for a Grammy, and has sold Gold in Sweden.Since 1990 Rigmor Gustafsson has been working as a freelance vocalist. In Sweden her engagements have ranged from working with several Big Bands to leading various small groups. She has recorded for the Swedish National Television and Radio, and has been featured as the musical guest in several TV shows. After moving to New York in 1993, she started working in various jazz clubs in the NYC area (Birdland, Smalls, Metronome etc). She performed with such artists as Fred Hersch and Ted Rosenthal, and recorded alongside Randy Brecker, Bob Mintzer and Dick Oatts, but was mainly performing with her own quintet to which she also composed most of the material. The Rigmor Gustafsson Quintet was formed in New York 1994 and has recorded the CDs "In the Light of Day" and "Plan # 46." In '96 Rigmor moved back to Stockholm again. There she formed a Swedish quintet with whom she recorded her third CD "Rigmor Gustafsson Live". 1996-2000 she was, besides performing, also teaching jazz voice at the Royal Academy of Music. 2002 she was signed to the German record company ACT.

LINA NYBERG - VOICE (www.linanyberg.nu)

Lina Nyberg was born in Stockholm in 1970 and raised in an artistic home. She discovered jazz at age 14 and at 18 years of age Lina began singing with Swedish jazz stars such as Bernt Rosengren, Nisse Sandström, Fredrik Norén Band, and others. In 1990 Lina built her own first constellation "Lina Nyberg Kvintett" consisting of Per "Texas" Johansson, Esbjörn Svensson, Dan Berglund, and Mikel Ulfberg. Lina studied at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm from 1991 to 1993.

Lina and her quintet received the prestigious Swedish Grammis award for her CD "when the smile shines through" in 1995. "OPEN" released in 1998 and recorded with Palle Danielsson and Anders Persson, among others, was nominated for a Swedish Grammis and received rave reviews.

Over the years Lina Nyberg has collaborated with jazz musicians such as John Taylor, Dr. Dingo, Esbjörn Svensson, Anders Jormin, Rigmor Gustafsson, and Jeanette Lindström. She has toured in Scandinavia, parts of Europe, Canada and Brazil. In 1999 Lina toured Japan with Yasuhito Moris Scandinavian Connection.

SOPHIE DUNÉR - VOICE (www.sophieduner.com)

Sophie Dunér began her carreer in the United States. Technically versatile, her tastes in music are wide ranging. While studying at Berklee College of Music in Boston, jazz improvisation teacher Hal Crook used to tell her " You sing the heck out of the hornplayers." Here she studied voice, improvisation and composition.

Sophie is like a chameleon, adapting any kind of music with great sensibility. Her familiarity with jazz, ethnic and 20th century classical music has led many composers and musicians to ask her to join them in musical collaboration during recent years.

Leading The Sophie Dunér Orchestra in Boston in the early 90s, she composed & performed in the USA at clubs such as the Willow Jazz Club, Sculler´s, Birdland and Cornelia Street Café. The four-piece "Orchestra" travelled to the Snowfestival of Sapporo, Japan - a tour sponsored by Berklee College of Music to be followed by the CD "Orange", her debut album, as well as Stockholm and Baltic jazz festivals in Scandinavia. The band has included musicians such as Mika Pohjola, Ernesto Jodos, George Donchev, Kazumi Ikenaga, Bruno Råberg, David Boato and Roberto Dani.

MIRJA MÄKELÄ - VOICE

In February of 1999, Mirja Mäkelä received her Master's Degree in music as the first jazz vocalist from the Sibelius Academy. Mäkelä has led her own band, MiriaM. & Band, since 1992. The band has recorded for the Finnish Broadcasting Company, performed at several jazz festivals and clubs in Finland, and also touring Germany in 1997. The Secret Playground album was released in February of 2000.

Mirja Mäkelä has performed as a soloist with many big bands, such as UMO Jazz Orchestra and Estonia Dream Big Band. She has also appeared with several smaller groups. She is a member of a new a cappella vocal jazz quartet, JimJamMurMur as well as Moomin Voices (aka Muumilauluja, see: www.moominvoices.com) which performs the original Moomintroll fairy-tale music by the legendary author Tove Jansson.

In 2000 she performed in Morocco at the Jazz aux Oudayas Festival as the soloist with the Swedish trio BergerKnutssonSpering. Inspired by this successful first performance, they have continued their collaboration and have made several concert tours together in both Finland and Sweden. Their latest co-work is the recently released album Arco íris.

In addition to her own albums, Mirja Mäkelä appears as a featured artist on the Moomin Voices Finnish edition (see: www.cdbaby.com/muumilauluja - 2005), and compilations by the Sibelius Academy Jazz Department (1995) and the Finnish Jazz & Pop Archives (1996). She has been voted female vocalist of the year three consecutive years by the critics of the Finnish Jazzrytmit magazine.

SIRI LARSEN - VOICE

Siri Larsen grew up in Sweden, but lives and works in New York City. More information soon.

JOHANNA GRÜSSNER - VOICE (www.johannagrussner.com)

The first one to tell the story about Johanna Grüssner's heartfelt commitments for the music education of Bronx children is the New York Times reporter Anemona Hartocollis, and her book Seven Days of Possibilities.

Johanna Grüssner arrived in New York City in 1996 to study for her Master's Degree at Manhattan School of Music. She had just completed her Bachelor's Degree in Music Education at Berklee. After graduation from Manhattan School in 1998, she obtained a job teaching music at P.S. 86, a public school in the Bronx. Over the course of several years, Johanna formed an intense, transformative connection with her students, and eventually took her 24-piece children's gospel chorus to her hometown in rural Finland, to meet her family and friends. Word spread about Johanna's mission and accomplishments. Three first page stories in the New York Times and several visits at U.S. national morning TV-shows gave Johanna and her mission rapid and unpredicted publicity.

Johanna Grüssner, the vocal stylist, has recorded several CDs. Her most ambitious and compelling vocal work can be heard on Moomin Voices. This CD is the entire catalogue of songs from the Moomin-stories by the legendary Finnish author, Tove Jansson.

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