Radka Toneff

(b 25 June '52, Oslo, Norway; d 21 Oct. '82) Singer. Her father was Bulgarian folk singer Toni Toneff; her mother played piano; Radka began piano lessons at age six and studied at Oslo Music Conservatory '71--5, planning to become a piano teacher. She began singing when a pop group was looking for a vocalist, and switched to jazz when she met Erik and Jon Balke and started practising with them. She had no formal training as a singer. Lyrics were very important to her; she set the poems of Nikki Giovanni, Robert Creeley and Sylvia Plath. She led her own quintet '75--80, then met pianist Steve Dobrogosz in Stockholm '79 and mainly worked with him; bassist Arild Andersen was a close musical partner. Albums: Winter Poem '77 on Verve (incl. 'The Ballad Of The Sad Young Men'); It Don't Come Easy '79 on Verve; FairyTales '82 on Odin (duet with Dobrogosz). FairyTales was off-putting for jazz purists because of its title and 'new-agey' cover art, but was her best album, with a version of 'The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress' soon issued on an Odin CD sampler: people who heard it began scrambling for Toneff's albums, but she was already gone. Her sudden death was described by newspapers as a suicide, but friends said that although she brought it on herself, it was an accident. Live In Hamburg '81 was released '92 on Odin and posthumously won her the Norwegian Buddy prize '93, incl. 'Lonely Woman', 'Just Like A Woman', 'Havana Candy', 'Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most', 'Lost In The Stars', 'My Funny Valentine' etc. Norwegian pianist Per Husby and Chan Parker (Charlie Parker's wife) co- wrote 'A Song You'll Never Sing' in Toneff's memory, incl. on his album Dedications '85 on Hotclub, sung by Karin Krog. MySpace Slideshow Contact Tables MySpace Comment Box MySpace Icons MySpace Comments