Monica Zetterlund: Swedish Sensation, CD

Few performers epitomised the sound of Scandinavian jazz, or did more to introduce it to the rest of the world, than Monica Zetterlund. On its release in 1958, the 21-year-old's first album Swedish Sensation announced the arrival of a genuinely distinctive talent. Her voice was delicate, fragile and tinged with melancholy - far removed from the barnstorming style that characterised so many American jazz singers - yet there was nothing bloodless about her sense of rhythm and melody.

In Sweden her popularity extended far beyond the jazz ghetto. Monica possessed enormous personal charm, beauty and grace, with the result that she also made a substantial impact on the pop charts, television and cinema. In 1963 she represented her country in the Eurovision Song Contest at a time when to be asked to do so was still considered an honour and a year later recorded ‘Waltz for Debby’ with Bill Evans, the masterpiece for which she is internationally best known.

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