Ellen Radka Toneff (25 June 1952 – 21 October 1982) was a Norwegian

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

singer, daughter of the Bulgarian folk singer, pilot and radio technician Toni Toneff, she was born in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

and grew up in

Lambertseter Lambertseter () is a suburb of the city of Oslo, Norway, and is part of the borough of Nordstrand. Lambertseter was built over a short period starting from 1951, and was the very first modern suburb of Oslo. A Tram line was built to the neighbor ...

and

Kolbotn Kolbotn is an Urban areas in the Nordic countries#Urban areas in Norway, urban area in Norway's Nordre Follo municipality in Akershus county. Kolbotn is in the centre of the traditional district, Oppegård. The population is about 6,000. Kolbotn ...

. She is still considered one of Norway's greatest jazz singers.

Career

Toneff holds a very special position in the Norwegian jazz history. With her moderate, but intense expression and her discerning musicianship, she made a deep impression on many people. Her highly personal and original qualities, where she combined influences from her father's musical heritage in Bulgaria with a range of influences from, among others, jazz and rock, led her to become a beacon for singers both in Norway and internationally. She studied music at Oslo Musikkonservatorium (1971–75), combined with playing in the jazz rock band "Unis". She also had her own Radka Toneff Quintet (1975–80), with changing lineup. including musicians like

Arild Andersen Arild Andersen (born 27 October 1945) is a Norwegian jazz musician bassist, known as the most famous Norwegian bass player in the international jazz scene. Career Andersen was born at Strømmen, Norway. He started his musical career as jazz g ...

Jon Balke Jon Georg Balke (born 7 June 1955) is a Norwegian jazz pianist who leads the group Siwan. He is the younger brother of saxophonist Erik Balke. Career Balke started playing classical piano but switched to blues at 12, though he performs withi ...

Jon Eberson Jon Arild Eberson (born 6 January 1953) is a Norwegian jazz guitarist and composer, the son of jazz guitarist Leif Eberson (1925–1970), and the father of keyboardist Marte Maaland Eberson. He was a member of the bands Moose Loose (1973–77), ...

and Jon Christensen, among others. From 1979 she cooperated with Steve Dobrogosz. In 1980 she participated in the Norwegian national final of the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

with the song ''Parken'' by

Ole Paus Ole Paus (1947–2023) was a Norwegian singer-songwriter and poet, widely regarded as one of the most innovative Norwegian musical figures of the 20th century and "Norway's most significant troubadour at the time of his death." Emerging during t ...

. Toneff was awarded the

Spellemannsprisen The Spellemannprisen (also referred to as the Norwegian Grammy Awards) is a Norwegian music award ceremony presented by IFPI Norge and FONO. It was first awarded in 1973 for the recording year 1972, and has been awarded every year since. It is ...

1977 in the category best vocal for the album ''Winter Poem'', and she posthumously received the Norwegian Jazz Association's Buddypris in 1982. The Radka Toneff Memorial Award is based on a

fund Fund may refer to: * Funding is the act of providing resources, usually in form of money, or other values such as effort or time, for a project, a person, a business, or any other private or public institution ** The process of soliciting and gathe ...

created with

royalties A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset or ...

from the albums ''Fairytales'' and ''Live in Hamburg''. She lived with bassist

for some years, though she was involved with jazz drummer

Audun Kleive Audun Kleive (born 20 October 1961) is a Norwegian jazz drummer.) He was raised in Skien and is the son of organist Kristoffer Kleive and brother of organist Iver Kleive. Career Kleive began to play drums in a rock and dance band, and then went ...

at the time of her death. A biography of Toneff was published in 2008. Toneff had roots in Bulgaria, she grew up on

(in Oslo) and

(in a neighboring former municipality), and left deep traces in Norwegian jazz. In a poll of Norwegian musicians conducted by the newspaper

Morgenbladet is Norway's oldest daily newspaper, covering politics, culture and science, now a weekly news magazine primarily directed at well-educated readers. The magazine is notable for its opinion section featuring contributions exclusively from Norweg ...

in November 2011, her 1982 album ''Fairytales'' was voted the best Norwegian album of all time. Toneff was found dead in the woods of

Bygdøy Bygdøy or Bygdø is a peninsula situated on the western side of Oslo, Norway. Administratively, Bygdøy is part of the borough of Frogner. It historically was part of Aker Municipality and became part of Oslo in 1948. Bygdøy is a popular recr ...

outside Oslo on 21 October 1982. She had committed suicide with an overdose of sleeping pills.

Honors

1977 in the class Best vocal for the album ''Winter Poem'' *

Buddyprisen Buddyprisen (established 1956 in Oslo, Norway) is an award, given annually by the Norwegian Jazz Forum to a Norwegian jazz musician that has "been an excellent performer and significantly involved in Norwegian jazz by other means". The award was ...

1982 posthumously

Discography

Solo albums

*1977: ''Winter Poem'' (Zarepta Records) – with the Radka Toneff Quintet *1979: ''It Don't Come Easy'' (Zarepta Records) – with the Radka Toneff Quintet *1982: ''Fairytales'' (

Odin Records Odin Records is a Norwegian jazz record company and label founded in 1981 by the Norwegian Jazz Federation, when there were not many independent record labels in Norway. Only major international record companies were to be found in Oslo, so Od ...

) – with Steve Dobrogosz *1993: ''Live in Hamburg'' (Odin Records) – with Steve Dobrogosz, Arild Andersen, and Alex Riel (recorded in 1981) ;Compilations *2003: ''Some Time Ago – A Collection Of Her Finest Moments'' (

EmArcy Records EmArcy Records is a jazz record label founded in 1954 by Bob Shad for the American Mercury Records. The name is a phonetic spelling of "MRC", the initials for Mercury Record Company. During the 1950s and 1960s, musicians such as Max Roach, Cl ...

) *2008: ''Set It Free – Et Portrett Av Radka Toneff'' (KRF Records) *2008: ''Butterfly'' (

Curling Legs __NOTOC__ Curling Legs Productions A/S (established 1992 in Oslo, Norway) is a Norwegian record label with a catalogue encompassing all styles of jazz and improvised music. It was started by Knut Værnes and Morten Halle to release their own m ...

)

Collaborative works

*1971: ''Slutt Opp, Kamerat'' (Plateselskapet Oktober), "Fronteatret"/«Visegruppa PS» *1971: ''Svartkatten'' (Flora / Arne Bendiksen),

Nationaltheatret The National Theatre in Oslo () is one of Norway's largest and most prominent venues for performance of dramatic arts. History The theatre had its first performance on 1 September 1899 but can trace its origins to Christiania Theatre, which was ...

*1975: ''Lise Madsen, Moses Og De Andre'' (

Sonet Records Sonet Records was a jazz, pop and rock record label operating as an imprint of Universal Music Sweden. It was founded in Sweden in 1956. Sonet Records was established by Sven Lindholm and Gunnar Bergström, who managed the label into the 1980 ...

), with

*1978: ''Leve Patagonia'' (

Philips Records Philips Records is a record label founded by Netherlands, Dutch electronics company Philips and in 1999 was absorbed into Netherlands, Dutch-United States, American music corporation Universal Music Group. It was founded as Philips Phonograph ...

), with

Ketil Bjørnstad Ketil Bjørnstad (born 25 April 1952) is a pianist, composer and author. Initially trained as a classical pianist, Bjørnstad discovered jazz at an early age and has embraced the emergence of "European jazz". Store Norske Leksikon (in Norwegian ...

References

External links

Radka Toneff Biography
by Johs Bergh on

Store Norske Leksikon The ''Great Norwegian Encyclopedia'' (, abbreviated ''SNL'') is a Norwegian-language online encyclopedia. It has several subdivisions, including the Norsk biografisk leksikon. The online encyclopedia is among the most-read Norwegian publishe ...

Radka Toneff Moon's a Harsh Mistress
on YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Toneff, Radka 1952 births 1982 suicides 1982 deaths Spellemannprisen winners Norwegian women jazz singers Norwegian jazz singers Norwegian people of Bulgarian descent Musicians from Oslo Drug-related suicides in Norway Odin Records artists Curling Legs artists EmArcy Records artists 20th-century Norwegian women singers 20th-century Norwegian singers