More mellowness to see the year out, in today's post and next Monday's. Radka Toneff (1952-1982) was one of Norway's finest jazz singers, before dying aged just 30 from a sleeping-pill overdose (friends were uncertain if it was deliberate). She was also Arild Andersen's partner for a time in the 70s, and wrote some material with him. By the time of her third and final album, Toneff was working with US pianist Steve Dobrogosz, and the sparse, haunting piano-and-vocal Fairytales became hugely popular in Norway.
Fairytales caught my attention when a YouTube session hit upon the stunning take on Jimmy Webb's The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress that opens the album. Infinitely more stark and restrained than Linda Ronstadt's version from the same year, it sets the tone for a low-key, melancholy set taken from eclectic sources, including Webb, John-Taupin and Anderson-Weill, as well as a gorgeous take on My Funny Valentine. An album of unearthly beauty for late-night candlelit contemplation.
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| Original LP cover |
link
pw: sgtg
