Randi Tytingvåg recomended as an origial newcomer in Norwegian jazz:
Buechergilde Catalogue

Concert reviews:

KASSEL 13th of March
Norwegian Randi Tytingvåg astounds at Spring Jazz Festival
Kassel. 150 audience members were thrilled by a singer with cult potential and her accompanying band, no less top-class, on the second evening of Kassel’s Spring Jazz Festival. Music that defies classification is what Randi Tytingvåg presented in the highly acclaimed performance in Karlshospital’s historical vaulted cellar.

In this Norwegian songwriter’s inventive eclecticism, it can happen that a song begins like a jazz ballad and then turns into a chanson in triple time ("Red Or Dead"). Or that a song with far-east melodics suddenly becomes the band’s power field for a mighty discharge of jazz ("Big In China"). Curiously long is also the list of names that journalists have been trying to compare their style with: Tom Waits, Kate Bush, Kurt Weil, Barbra Streisand, Astor Piazzolla and - not to forget - Pippi Langstrumpf.

A myriad of facets, from lascivious whispering to powerfully high pinnacles of notes, can be found in Tytingvåg‘s perfectly intoned vocals. Her performance is theatrical as well, in the best sense of the word: arms spread wide, her mimicry now dreamy, then mischievous. No less brilliant are Anders Aarum (Keyboards), Espen Leite (Akkordion), Magne Thormodsaeter (Double Bass) und Ivar Thormodsaeter (Drums). Spacy sprinkles of sound, choral church-like chords and vital tango virtuosity come from the accordeon player. The pianist has a lot to offer as well – from plucking the strings inside the grand piano to elegant fury on the keys.

After enthuiastic applause, the encores pack even more style-mixing punch; after a shrewd audience sing-along version of Cole Porter‘s "My Heart Belongs To Daddy", Tytingvåg follows with the elfen vocals of a Norwegian traditional. Cult status pending.
Georg Pepl, HNA 15.03.2010

Boundless perfection and beauty. Randi Tytingvåg and band surpassed all expectations.
Better than good – simply fabulous. Randi Tytingvåg and her four tour musicians provided an evening of top-class entertainment.
Sound? As if it were nothing, the rightly praised sound of the studio recordings was transported into the tricky acoustics of the Dreikönigskirche  (Church of the Three Kings).
Equipment? Every single song played seemed to be perfect in its simple raiment of reduced instrumentation – and in no way „reduced“. Musical abilities? There is no symbol for infinite on my computer keyboard.
 
Very, very slowly, Anders Aarum on the piano, Espen Leite on accordeon, Magne Thormodsaeter on contrabass and Ivar Thormodsaeter on the drums thread their way into the first song, "Cohesion". "I couldn't leave you if I wanted to" declares the little woman soberly; she actually has to stretch up to reach the microphone, and immediately her voice is so fully present that you suddenly couldn’t imagine it to be any other way. It’s a lot less childish than in the studio recordings; with the first notes you already begin to suspect the range this singer has at her command. Aarum works the inside of the piano with drum mallets, Leite hints at the melody on the accordeon. Brothers Thormodsaeter add dabs of sound. Gently, very gently. In the end it’s all about the vulnerability of lovers.
 
"Why" seems to be a wonderful song about a lost love, which it is. However it‘s about a daughter abandoned by her father when he passes away, explains the Norwegian, who wrote the song for a girlfriend. Softly begin the rhythms, until bass and drums usher in downright excruciating pain. True, deep mourning: "It won't go away". You’ve seldom heard a more intensive way of expressing grief.
 
Loud cheering brings the singer and her grandiose team quickly back to the stage.
Beate Baum, Dresdener Neueste Nachrichten 09.03.2010
 

Dresden, advance publicity.

 RED REVIEWS:

Ozella website

CD Of The Week at RADIO 1
 
SWR2 Impuls with Luigi Lauer.
radio interview 
 
Audiophile Pop-CD of the month
Impressive jazz-folk-tango-electronic-cocktail of excellent sound.
Claus Dick, Audio 11/2009
 
Even when they’re not covering standards, many nordic singers still sound standard today. Not so Randi Tytingvåg from Stavanger. Just the way she wrenches a heartfelt Marilyn Monroe out of Cole Porter’s classic „My Heart Belongs To Daddy“, Chapeau! It sounds like Tom Waits stranded in Maghreb. And in her own compositions this amazing lady creates an irritatingly imposing mix of jazz, folk, cabaret, ballad, tango and ambient.
Detlef Kinsler, Journal Frankfurt
 
HR2 Kultur: CD Of The Week october 12. - 17. 2009
...Just because you don’t know how to pronounce her name doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get to know this young Norwegian singer, especially if you appreciate well-made songs far beyond the mainstream. Style and genre don’t interest this 31-year-old from the coastal city of Stavanger. She takes a little of everything that fits: jazz, folk, tango, vaudeville, chanson and electronic. She forms quiet songs from all this, singing little stories about people and their dealings with each other. "Red" is the name of her third CD: in Norway she climbed the charts long ago. Maybe now she’ll find an audience in the rest of the world, she certainly deserves it!
Gregor Praml, HR2 Mikado
 
Chansons from the North! Her repertoire of folk, jazz and cabaret can hardly be described as anything else. On "Red" the 31-year-old convinces with music that sounds like Leonard Cohen and reminds you of Astor Piazzolla.
Freundin 23.09.2009
 
A fine CD, recommended for open ears and sharp minds.
Nordische Musik
 
Album Of The Week
Randi Tytingvåg is definitely a singer who can hold her own with the likes of her celebrated colleagues, Silje Nergaard, Beady Belle or Rebekka Bakken. She has a voice you recognize immediately, unique, expressive, full of nuance. There are lots of good music-makers who play superbly and deliver perfect productions, but only a few manage to touch the soul.
Lounge.fm
 
At some point we’ll have to find an answer to the question as to what it is, exactly, that drives Norwegians to jazz: Silje Nergaard, Rebekka Bakken, Hanne Hukkelberg and now Randi Tytingvåg. This 31-year-old is far ahead of her rivals however, having the vision to see beyond her own back yard. On "Red", classic vocal jazz melts with tango, folk and world music; Tytingvåg and her musicians play with utmost sophistication and deliver with the highest degree of finesse.
Weser Kurier
 
Piano, accordeon, bass, and drums along with Randi Tytingvåg's crystal clear, delicately haunting voice are the forces that are driving her third album, "Red". She tells all kinds of little stories here, stories written by life, showing a highly perceptive sense of observation and fine feeling for language.
5 points. (from 5 possible points).
Ulf Drechsel, Deutschlandradio Kultur 30.09.2009

Jazznytt, No. 5 2009, Bjarne Søltoft:

" You might look at Randi Tytingvåg as a jazz singer, but she is not an ordinary one. There are no traces of imitation or worn out phrases.
Tytingvåg has her very own original style with a personal touch to everything she sings. ´Red´is her third album and it confirms and strengthens her artistic integrity. The whole ensemble is credited for the arrangements, but it is still Aarum, Leite and Fossum who are her most influential partners. This was also the case on her last album ´Let Go.` Their creativity and musical choices are simply exquisit. One can hear inspirations sources such as Kurt Weill and Tom Waits.
The cello sound and other instruments such as glockenspiel, pipa, rebaba and er-hu contributes to colourful arrangements of the songs. And the short soli parts add a jazz touch. Tytingvåg is an unorthodox ballad singer without the predilection for clichés. Within the framework of her own lyrics she can be rough, sensual, vulnerable, bitter, quiet or devoted. The songs ´Why´and ´A Trip To The Moon`are very good examples of this.
 Nearness, guile, reflection, sensualism and will to live are all themes exposed in her lyrics. Not all of them are equally heavily grounded, but her voice with all its textures are dragging you close. It is a living human being singing for us - without seeking perfection. It makes me think about Billie Holiday.
The only standard recorded is a new original version of Cole Porter´s
´My Heart Belongs To Daddy. This is a nice greeting to both Waits and Bates (Django).
In this mix of intimacy, drama and cabaret - it sometimes makes me think about Lina Nyberg - Tytingvåg presents as a current leading Norwegian voice."

Stavanger Aftenblad 04.09 2009, Leif Tore Lindø:

"I get a lot of good feedback on the new album by Randi Tytingvåg. I have great faith in her. She has a voice you can identify immediately; original and full of feelings. There is a lot of good musicians making well produced correct jazz, but only a very few touches your soul. Tytingvåg does, says Dagobert Böhm. (...)
Both the German record label and the jazz journalits Christoph Giese agrees that Norwegian jazz music has an original touch to it and that it is associated with good quality."

Rogalands Avis 04.09 2009, Elisabeth Krey Jenssen:

"Randi Tytingvåg is an important role model and contributor to many other young jazz musicians. Yesterday Stavanger Jazzforum opened the fall season launching the artist Randi Tytingvåg and her album RED that was released on the 17th of August. Tytingvåg celebrated with good reason. She has received overwhelmingly good reviews.
    Randi Tytingvåg is an important contributor both as a singer and composer, and also as a teacher. We are very proud to present her (..), says producer Tone Christoffersen."

Stavanger Aftenblad 02.09 2009, Geir Flatø

RED SUITS HER

" Randi Tytingvåg has launched this as an "all or nothing at all project " - a record that will show if she deserves a place amonst the great jazz singers. After having heard the first tracks of the album the answer is YES.
    The opening track ´RED Or Dead´ has a classic touch to it, the intro verse making way, the chorus is firm and the next verse opens up and revelas the song. Nothing can go wrong from there, due to its melodic qualities it could have been taken out from a musical (Lés Misérables is an association).
    The next track ´Quiet Noise´starts as if it is a Tom Waits production and then continues with a blend of march and Cabaret elements from the 30-40s.
    On the third track she manages to create a new and original version of the worn out Porter classic ´My Heart Belongs To Daddy.´ The wonderful band should also be credited; Anders Aarum (piano and more), Espen Leite 8accordion), Svante Henryson (cello), Jens Fossum (double bass), Jan Martin Smørdal (accordion), Ivar Thormodsæter and Eirik-André Rydningen (perc./drums) and Håvard Fossum (sax, clarinet).
    On the next tracks she goes a bit further and off main stream. But this is what a good jazz album should be all about. ´Song For Alice´has to be mentioned as a jazz ballad which is a delight for your ear.
    Other songs like ´Cohesion´really crawls under your skin and ´Big In China´represents a nice variation towards the end of the album. In ´How Can You Know´ you can trace inspiration from Kate Bush and Tori Amos.
    We have known for a long time that Randi Tytingvåg is a brilliant singer. On this album she demonstrates that she is also a first class songwriter. She has devlopped a genre knowledge that takes her music to new hights. On the very last track she invites us for ´A Trip To The Moon´ and she dedicates the album to her former teacher Marit Åbotnes.
    The album stands out as a strong concept even though it contains variations and different elements. This is her master piece."

Aftenposten 31.08 2009, Svein Andersen

A GREAT SINGER AND ARTIST

" The Stavanger artist Randi Tytingvåg has succeeded, her third album ´Red´is a pure pleasure to listen to. The two previous albums ´Heavenly Attack´(2004) and ´Let Go´(2006) showed that she was onto something, which ´Red´solidly confirms.
    Her music has developed harmonically and genre related within the framework she has presented before. It is an original mix of genres. The songs should appeal to a broad audience with a preferance for theatrical elements and characteristic moods and effects. Several of the melodies have a classic touch to them, even though they are newly written.
 Red has the potensial to become a record people will talk about and listen to for years to come. She still works with the musicians Anders Aarum, piano, Espen Leite , accordion, Jens Fossum, double bass and Svante Henryson on cello. The lineup has expanded a bit, but the core of the music is a blend of jazz, cabaret, gospel and other elements that fit into this concept.
    Randi Tytingvåg has a brilliant vocal tecnique, and is singing with great warmth, presence and authority. She is a singer who masters her field to the highest level. She has written all the music and lyrics herself except for ´Queen & King´and ´My Heart Belongs To Daddy.´ One in collaboration with piano player Anders Aarum and the other one is one of Cole Porter´s many classics.
    She is no longer just promising. She has established herself as one of the finest female jazz vocalists in Norway."

Gudbrandsdølen Dagningen 27.08 2009, Per Ivar Henriksbø

DEAREST RANDI...

  DAGBLADET 26.08 2009, Terje Mosnes

A UNIQUE AND SOLID THIRD EDITION

"The ambitious and thorough ´Red´ is the third album by Randi Tytingvåg (31) since her debut in 2004, and it shows a singer/storyteller, lyricist and songwriter in great development. Vocally she is strong and steady, but with enough resistance to immediately catch your attention,  and her performance - a bit of Kate Bush, a bit of Cabaret, a bit  from the singer/songwriter tradition, and a lot of Randi - is a determined, effective way of storytelling.
    Cloaked by piano player Anders Aarum, accordion player Espen Leite, cello player
Svante Henryson and double bass player Jens Fossum the original material plus ´My Heart Belongs To Daddy´  holds the most beautiful sounds and harmonic content. They strongly contribute to make the sum of the many sounds, the details in rhythms and melodies one convincing, unique piece of work."

DAGSAVISEN 22.08 2009, Roald Helgheim

RED FROM STAVANGER

"Randi Tytingvåg is a solid artist from Stavanger. Her lyrics are unique and her vocal characteristics are very strong. She has made a huge impact in the jazz world and other parts of the music world, inpired by cabaret music, gospel and Kurt Weill, with both Bille Holiday and Tom Waits as important sources of inspiration. ´Red´is the name of the new album and it starts with the song ´Red Or Dead.´It says all or nothing at all , the motto of this singer who makes no compromises, who from very early on made an impact at the Maijazz festival, who made the heavenly album debut ´Heavenly Attack´, then she released ´Let Go´, and now ´Red.` (...)
The lyrics are strong and personal, and they are all rooted in stories from real life, the singer tells us. You needn´t know more to enjoy this album, where ´My Heart Belongs To Daddy´
is the only song she has not written the lyrics and music for."

 LET GO reviews  (relaunched in Germany in 2010) :

Jazz - Album of the Week
Randi Tytingvåg phrases with extreme agility, her intonation is remarkably confident and her voice commands the greatest of precision, but she still leaves her accompanying musicians plenty of space to unfold. As in the chansonesque "Rat Race" against the daily grind - or in the title song "Let Go", a song about the coming and going of love, of great dreams, as well as the ability to show weakness and vulnerability.
Although far removed from Scandinavian seriousness –  sometimes typical for colleagues like Solveig Slettahjell or Sidsel Endresen – there is still a touch of melancholy that threads through the album. Randi Tytingvåg is also one of those artists who knows how to banish „evil spirits“ with their music.
NDR

...the songs exude the charm of youth on the road to awareness, and the memory of wonderfully mild melodies of times gone by helps to banish all those evil and mischievous spirits on the way. This method should also work wonders among those of us who are a little older, who find things in these lyrics that we’ve already experienced: life’s illusions and lies destroyed, the promises and disappointments of love.
... when it comes to zeal for musical experimentataion and freedom of spirit, most Norwegian singers manage to elude comparisons. With Randi Tytingvåg it wouldn’t lead to much anyway – she can sing like Kate Bush, whisper sensuously like Marilyn Monroe, and look like Pippi Langstrumpf up to some new mischief while doing it. Her band, consisting of pianist and arranger Anders Aarum, accordeon player Espen Leite and contrabassist Jens Fossum, are equally difficult to pigeonhole. Effortlessly, they create a multifacetted framework of klezmer, tango, classical, pop and jazz, brillantly supported by violin, clarinet and background vocals. Melancholy may be at home in Nordic melodies, but what triumphs here is above all joi de vivre, the zest for life. Let’s hope it stays that way for a very long time.
Heidi Eichenberg, MDR 11.01.2010

Norwegian Randi Tytingvåg has not only sung her way into the hearts of music critics with what is actually her latest production „Red“. The singer from Stavanger is simply a very special artist, with her own musical vision, something which could already be heard on her second album, „Let Go“. Only released in Norway until now, „Let Go“ has just been newly re-mastered and released by Ozella Music for the listening pleasure of the rest of the world. The record from 2006 melts jazz with chanson, tango, pop or klezmer, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Four years ago Randi Tytingvåg was already  the curious artist who had highly varied musical interests, all of which she liked to tie into her art. This is exactly what she does on „Let Go“- with a lot of charm and the support of excellent musicians, together they brew up a shimmering, colorful, and rich cosmos of sound.
Christoph Giese, Jazzthing Februar/März 2010

Now the previous album, "Let Go", has been released internationally, and it adds to the auditive pleasure  of jazz, classy pop, broadway and global rhythms with softer, exhilerating components of playful ease.
If Randi Tytingvaag displayed poise and confidence on "Red" from the first song to the last in an atmosphere of total suspense, „Let Go“ (released in Norway in 2006), shows that she can unfold irresistable charm and charisma in more low-key and relaxed songs. This goes – as we already know from „Red“ – along with sophisticated compositions, every one of which could be considered a jewel of Norwegian modern jazz.
Tadjana Zilg, AVIVA 3 2010

The wight looking back at us from the album cover looks more like a little girl with its big eyes, wide mouth and pixie haircut. The Norwegian singer was however, born in 1978 in Stavenger, and after an education in English art schools, can meanwhile look back on her fourth record release.
... She sneaks through her songs like a cat, varying, nuancing and phrasing within every track.
Her songs move somewhere between chamber-jazz, Nordic folk, klezmer, tango, cabaret and singer/songwriting. Genres flow into each other, with the three excellent accompanying musicians implimenting all the styles perfectly in tasteful arrangements, creating and sustaining a beguiling atmosphere. Their very own sound is what the quartet are creating here - in the remastered finish its warmth and intimacy come into their own.
Poetic are the lyrics, so poetic that it’s worth reading them along to the music in the beautifully designed booklet. For Randi Tytingvåg you should treat yourself to a real time-out to listen to these three quarters of an hour, her music is just too good to let it play in the background.
Norbert Neugebauer, Rocktimes März 2010

...a very expressive singer (2004 acclaimed "The artist of the year"), who is just at home in quiet ,soulful and emotional songs as in the ones that seem playfull and light. Conclusion: The Norwegian singer melts diverse genres into an unusual but harmonious whole.
Stefan Krell, Melodie & Rhythmus, März/April 2010

Once again I am enthralled by Randi Tytingvåg‘s fantastic, crystal clear voice. You don’t hear something as beautiful as this very often.
Nico Steckelberg, Der Hörgespiel

Influences from klezmer, tango, classical, pop and jazz. Although the basic feel is always slightly melancholic, the music has an untamed and constantly present „joi de vivre“. Maybe like how in Norwegian cottages buried in snow dreams, hopes and thoughts wander about , happy-go-lucky, light-hearted and free. A dream of an album!
MDR Figaro

"Let Go" expands the spectrum of this 32-year-old with even more classical and klezmer elements; whereby the mainly balladesque compositions remain hearable at all times, already giving her the reputation of being the softer, feminine version of Tom Waits.
Sellfish

...their very own artistic musical language.
Luedinghausen Muensterland.de

January 2008, concerts in Essen - Germany
Read articles from Randis concert in Essen, Germany. Neue Ruhr Zeitung and Zeitungshaus Bauer (german, pdf).

Radio intervju with Randi Tytingvåg (in german). Radiomultikulti, Berlin (click here, mp3-file 4,9 Mb).

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Concerts in Germany -  Klosterscheune, Zehdenick 7.12.2007
Randi Tytingvåg w/band on tour in Germany december-07. Read articles here (in german):
No. 1, No. 2, No. 3. (jpg, 600-800 kb)

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Let Go" – from the reviews...

Rogalands Avis 5th of Sept-2006 (score 6 of 6):
”(...)Randi Tytingvåg´s vocal expressions are strong, vibrant and personal.”

Bergens Tidene 13th of Sept-2006 (score 5 of 6):
”An unsual talent. (...) My goodness, what an exciting, Norwegian voice this is!”

Dagsavisen 10th of sept-2006:
”It is brilliant from start to end. A mix of jazz, tango and cabaret style in the right Kurt Weill spirirt...”

TV2 12th of Sept-2006 (”The GREAT voice):
(...) I believe every word she sings! and it would not surprise me if she reaches out to a big audience also outside of Norway.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------