Born in Värmskog (Sweden) on 12 April 1966. At the age of eight she learned how to play the guitar at the public school in Grums, Sweden. She studied at Sundstagymnasiet in Karlstad where she studied classical guitar but moved to singing. She began to study at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York City and at Mannes College of Music.
While living in New York she met other musicians and started the Rigmor Gustafsson Quintet. She graduated in 1995, and the quintet went on tour in Sweden, Germany, and Switzerland between 1996 and 1997. In 1996, Rigmor Gustafsson’s debut album ‘In the Light of Day’ was released but in 1994 one could listen to Gustafssons children’s record Sånger från TV-serien Planeten Pi where she sings with Anders Lundin and Lars In de Betou.
In 2003, she signed with the German record label ACT, which released ‘I Will Wait for You’, recorded with the trombonist Nils Landgren. During the same year Gustafsson performed at the Nobel Banquet. In 2004, the album ‘Close to You’ was released in which she recorded a version of Dionne Warwick’s songs written by Burt Bacharach. The album achieved gold status.
On the album ‘On My Way to You’ (2006) she sings songs by French composer Michel Legrand. The album ‘Alone with You’ followed in 2007. An album together with the DR Big Band, Silje Niergaard, Caecilie Norby, ‘Jazz Divas Of Scandinavia’ was released in 2009, and this was followed by a collaborative album with the Radio String Quartet Vienna entitled ‘Calling You’ in 2010.
In 2019, Rigmor released the album ‘Come Home’, which featured a cover version of Wuthering Heights.
References
- Rigmor Gustafsson. Wikipedia, retrieved 4 November 2021.
