Louise Hoffsten
Encyclopedia
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
song writer, musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
and singer spanning several genres, notably rock, blues and pop.
Louise was born in Linköping
Linköping
Linköping is a city in southern middle Sweden, with 104 232 inhabitants in 2010. It is the seat of Linköping Municipality with 146 736 inhabitants and the capital of Östergötland County...
. Her father, Gunnar Hoffsten
Gunnar Hoffsten
Gunnar Hoffsten was a Swedish composer, bandleader and jazz musician . He was the father of Karin Hoffsten, the singer Louise Hoffsten, the artist Lars Hoffsten, and brother of the actress Rut Hoffsten.- References :...
, was also a musician and played the trumpet in a jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
band.
From her first recordings, Hoffsten's music and stage act have weaved together rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
, folk
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
and blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
influences, while sometimes moving into r'n'b and jazz territory, unified by her earthy, slightly operatic singing style and driving, lean grooves. Like many blues singers she plays the harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
as well, a recurrent element in her songs; she is arguably the most well-known and recognized female blues singer of contemporary Sweden. She has built a wide following in her native land, has won several awards and currently resides in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
.
In 1996, Louise was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis
Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease in which the fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord are damaged, leading to demyelination and scarring as well as a broad spectrum of signs and symptoms...
, but despite the complications and occasional depressions (mirrored in the book/record Blues), she continues to write, tour and perform music.
Discography
- 1987 Genom eld och vatten
- 1988 Stygg
- 1989 Yeah, Yeah
- 1991 Message of Love
- 1993 Rhythm & Blonde
- 1995 6
- 1996 Kära Du
- 1997 Blues (book with cd record)
- 1998 Tilde & Tiden (A children's story read by Louise Hoffsten)
- 1999 Beautiful, But Why?
- 2002 Collection 1991-2002
- 2003 Louise Hoffsten live med Folkoperans Orkester
- 2004 Knäckebröd Blues (Remix and re-release of the Blues cd, 1997)
- 2005 From Linköping To Memphis
- 2007 Så Speciell
- 2009 På andra sidan Vättern
Soundtracks
- 1996 The AssociateThe Associate (soundtrack)The Associate is the original motion picture soundtrack of the self-titled movie from 1996, starring Whoopi Goldberg, the winner of a Grammy, seven Emmy Awards, two Golden Globes, a Tony, as well as an Oscar....
(on "Nice Doin' Business")