Rebecka Gordon

Rebecka Gordon was born and educated in Stockholm, Sweden, where she lives. A graduate of the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm. Previously she studied drama in Stockholm and London. Later she became drawn to song and jazz. Since 1993 she has given concerts in the Concert houses of Sweden, in churches, in synagogues, at festivals and in the best of Swedish jazz venues. In England, concerts and festivals since 2000. Rebecka Gordon: A few years ago I heard a recording of Mayn Ruhe Plats, a workers song in Yiddish. It is a song of love in troubled times. The music came from the dark days of eastern Europe not unlike the spirit of the blues. It felt familiar, something to do with roots. It emerged that both my father and my grandfather, had sung this song. There is a great wealth of material in Yiddish and I found that Jazz and the old songs seemed to regenerate each other. I did not know the language, but the help I received from my father with Yiddish and its background, was invaluable. The songs come from all ages and from many places. Some are folk songs, some were written by known poets and musicians and some by unknown hands, some were composed in ghettos and under grim conditions. Some are humorous and some were written for musicals. Some were to praise the Lord. I have immensely enjoyed combining these two contrasting, and in some ways similar forms of music. My pianist, Claes von Heijne, and I, have arranged most of the songs in a jazz setting. Filip Augustson plays bass and Gilbert Matthews plays drums and it is in the collaboration with these keen musicians that the Quartet Yiddish'n Jazz emerged.