Rigmor Gustafsson was born and grew up on a small farm in Värmland, in the
very heart of Sweden. She picked up the guitar at age nine, and soon discovered
her passion for jazz. It soon became clear that she wished to turn this passion into
a career. But who was going to let a girl with a guitar play in their band? She had
a wonderful voice, so she packed her guitar in its case and became a singer.

After her education at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm, she rapidly
became known in Sweden as an excellent vocalist. She worked with various big
bands, led her own small groups, performed on Swedish television and made
numerous recordings for radio.

In 1993 she moved to New York, to study at the New School and at Mannes
College of Music with Sheila Jordan, Clark Terry, Richie Beirach, Phil Markovitz,
Reggie Workman and Joe Chambers. She performed in the New York jazz clubs
with Fred Hersch and Ted Rosenthal, recorded with Randy Brecker, Bob Mintzer
and Dick Oatts, and soon Gustafsson herself was teaching at Mannes College of
Music. She founded her first quintet, which toured all over Europe.
In 1996 Rigmor returned to Stockholm, was given a teaching position at the Royal
Academy of Music and has since been regarded as a star of the young and lively
Swedish jazz scene.

In Germany the audience celebrated her performance at the JazzFest Berlin 2001
and she was immediately invited to the JazzBaltica Festival 2002, which
presented her to a wider German audience as “a new star singer” (Jazzthetik).
The same year she was a guest star on Nils Landgren’s highly successful album
Sentimental Journey (ACT 9409-2) and in 2003 she presented her debut on ACT I
Will Wait For You (ACT 9418-2), which established her firmly in the tradition of
great Swedish jazz singers like Monica Zetterlund, Lill Lindfors, Sylvia
Vrethammer or Alice Babs. I Will Wait For You rocketed up to second place in the
German jazz charts and No.1 in Sweden, where she took over from Norah Jones,
who had held place for 74 weeks. The German Jazz Award was a tangible reward
for the success of this album produced by Nils Landgren.

The following year Gustafsson and the French-American pianist Jacky Terrasson
released a moving and sensual tribute to one of the greatest singers of pop
culture, Dionne Warwick: Close To You (ACT 9703-2). Rarely have pop songs
looked so good in jazz clothes. The new arrangements fit the soul-classics like a
glove. The songs retain their pop identity, yet they have become exciting
contemporary jazz. Gustafsson was not only rewarded with the Swedish Jazz
Award, she was named “Best singer of the year” by Werner Burkhardt in the endof
the-year review in the Süddeutsche Zeitung.

On her current album On My Way To You (ACT 9710-2), released in February
2006, Gustafsson interprets Michel Legrand’s world famous melodies from films
with great jazz feeling. Legrand was born in 1932 in Paris, he has received three
Oscars and five Grammys, and some of his songs like “Windmills of Your Mind",
"Once upon a Summertime" or "You Must Believe in Spring", have become part of
the world's musical heritage. Again under the direction of Nils Landgren,
Gustafson shows herself to be a singer with a great sense of nuance and vocal
colour, while at the same time allowing a fine dose of glamour in her voice, a
quiet, never assertive sparkle and multi layered glow reminiscent of the great
movies. She is the ideal voice for these songs, as Michel Legrand himself admits:
“I am honoured that Rigmor has chosen to do some of my songs. She knocks me
out!” On My Way To You even placed Gustafsson 12th in the Swedish pop charts.
“Her soul speaks to other souls”, Werner Burkhardt wrote about her performance
at JazzBaltica a few years back. One is hard put to find better words for her voice
and her personality.

(source: www.rigmorgustafsson.com / www.actmusic.com)