Rebecka Törnqvist

Rebecka Törnqvist - Good Thing - 1995 - EMI

If you are not familiar with Rebecka Törnqvist , you really should check out her music. She is a very talented Swedish jazz/pop vocalist with some good albums to her credit, including the two she did with Sara Isaksson as part of the group Gloria. In the late '90s when Swedish jazz-pop became marketable and too commercial, much of the music was watered down, and lost much of it's originality, but Rebecka stood out as a skilled songwriter. Even if "Good Thing" is not as strong as her "A Night Like This" album her talent for songwriting is still obvious. "Good Thing" is a mature, smooth (NOT smooth jazz) and cool combination of jazz and jazz pop with Grade A musicianship by a big part of the Swedish jazz elite. Check out her "Tremble My Heart" album @ REBTORN/TMH Have you heard her magnificent album of Steely Dan cover songs, "Fire In The Hole," which Rebecka recorded with Sara Isaksson. Check it out @ REBTORN/SARISAK/FITH/STDAN Buy her "A Night Like This" album and support good uncommercial jazz pop music. Rebecka's website is @ Rebecka Törnqvist [Tracks @ 224-320 Kbps: File size = 81.2 Mb]

TRACKS

1 Good Thing 3:45
2 Just As Long 4:27
3 Sleep Tight 3:27
4 Julio's Rainbow 4:37
5 You And Your Great Love 4:10
6 Forever More 4:38
7 I Do 4:34
8 Monster Walk 5:13
9 Love Song 3:07
10 Larger Than Life 5:35
11 I Don't Know Why 5:28

All songs composed by Pål Svenre, & Rebecka Törnqvist except "I Do" by Rebecka Törnqvist, "Julio's Rainbow" by Rebecka Törnqvist & Esbjörn Svensson, " Larger Than Life" by Pål Svenre, Rebecka Törnqvist & Marcus Wikström, and "I Don't Know Why" by Shawn Colvin

MUSICIANS

Rebecka Törnqvist - vocals, background vocals
Max Schultz - electric guitar, 6-string acoustic guitar, slide guitar
Lars (Halapi) - electric guitar, 12-string & 6-string acoustic guitar
Henrik Janson - 12-string & 6-string acoustic guitar
Hans Backenroth, Dan Berglund - bass
Urban Werner - double bass [THE SNYKO STRINGS]
Pål Svenre - piano, synthesizer, Fender Rhodes, keyboards, Wurlitzer, vocals, background vocals
Esbjörn Svensson - piano, synthesizer
Mats Asplén - Hammond organ
Christer Wallin, Magnus Öhrström - drums
Jan Robertson - drums, cymbals
René Martinez - percussion
Frederick Ljungqvist - sax
Per "Texas" Johansson - baritone & tenor sax
Per "Ruskträsk" Johansson - alto sax, flute
Leif Lindvall, Peter Asplund - trumpet
Anders Wiborg, Mikael Råberg, Bertil Strandberg - trombone
Bo Eriksson - English horn
Goran Gunnarsson, Håkan Nyqvist - French Horn
Christian Bergqvist, Christos Andered, Ulf Forsberg, Hanna Göran, Mira Malik, Urban Svensson, Paul Waltman, Patrik Swedrup - violin [THE SNYKO STRINGS]
His Åkeson, Elisabeth Arnberg, Mikael Sjöberg - viola [THE SNYKO STRINGS]
Asa Forsberg, Johan Stern - cello [THE SNYKO STRINGS]
Magnus Rongedal, André de Lange, Greta folkesson - background vocals

BIO

Rebecka Törnqvist was probably the most important artist in raising the interest in young female jazz vocalists in Sweden in the '90s, though her solo albums weren't pure jazz, but rather pop with heavy jazz influences. Apart from getting a number of followers in this style, she also revitalized the interest for the whole genre. This was not only her work, but artists like Per "Texas" Johansson have her to thank for increasing the commercial potential for Swedish jazz. Törnqvist's debut album, A Night Like This, was released the same year as Bo Kaspers Orkester released their successful jazzy debut. The albums were similar in some aspects, but where Bo Kaspers Orkester took a witty, ironic stand in jazz music and stretched out towards R&B, Törnqvist lacked the irony and her approach was serious, mature, and smooth. In 1993, Törnqvist made her debut with the album A Night Like This. Backing her was a big part of the Swedish jazz elite, including names like Esbjörn Svensson, Anders Widmark, and Per "Texas" Johansson, and the combination of jazz and pop proved very successful, not least commercially. Törnqvist's next album, Good Thing, was definitely pop, but also showed influences from slick soul and blues. In 1996, she released her first pure jazz album, Stockholm Kaza Session, together with saxophonist Per Texas Johansson and two years later, Tremble My Heart, which was a return to the mix of pop and jazz. The next year she was one of the members in the supergroup Gloria, formed by Lars Halapi, where Törnqvist sang together with singer/songwriter Sara Isaksson. The group released a self-titled album in 1999. In 2001, Törnqvist released a new solo album, this time produced by Halapi, who had also produced Gloria. Vad Jag Vill was her first album in Swedish and was also a step further away from the laid-back jazz-pop that had made her well-known. © Lars Lovén © 2012 Rovi Corporation. All Rights Reserved http://www.allmusic.com/artist/rebecka-trnqvist-p203541/biography

BIO (WIKI)

Rebecka Törnqvist (born 26 April 1964 in Uppsala, Sweden) is a Swedish jazz and pop vocalist. Her debut album A Night like This was released in 1993 and sold over 100,000 copies. She was nominated for five Swedish Grammys in 1993. This was followed by Good Thing in 1995, which got a platinum record and got her a Swedish Grammy Best Female Pop/Rock Artist of the Year in 1996. Most of the albums by Rebecka Törnqvist are sung in English, with the exception of Vad Jag Vill (2001). She also appears on the Swedish compilation Jul i folkton (BAM, 2005) in the song Det Är En Ros Utsprungen (III), and on another Swedish compilation Dubbel Trubbel (EMI, 2005) with Resan Hem (together with Eldkvarn) and Vad Tänker Han På. Rebecka Törnqvist was probably the most important artist in raising the interest in young female jazz vocalists in Sweden in the '90s, though her solo albums weren't pure jazz, but rather pop with heavy jazz influences. Apart from getting a number of followers in this style, she also revitalized the interest for the whole genre. In 1996 she was awarded Ulla Billquist Stipendiet (Swedish). Rebecka Törnqvist grew up in Africa where her father worked for the Swedish foreign aid organisation Sida.