Helén Eriksen (born 19 October 1971 in Dale,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

) is a Norwegian Jazz musician (saxophone and vocals), songwriter and music arranger.

Career

In the period 1993 to 1995 she was a member of the Bergen-based pop group Animal Farm. In 1996 she released her first solo album ''Standards'' on the jazz record label

Blue Note Records Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Capitol Music Group. Established in 1939 by History of the Jews in Germany, German-Jewish emigrants Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it deriv ...

. The album was produced by

hip-hop Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hi ...

producer Tommy Tee and gave her the award as newcomer at

Spellemannprisen The Spellemannprisen (also referred to as the Norwegian Grammy Awards) is a Norwegian music award ceremony presented by International Federation of the Phonographic Industry#Local associations, IFPI Norge and :no:FONO, FONO. It was first awarded i ...

1996. Also her next album was released on Blue Note and produced by Tommy Tee, until in 2000 she released the album ''City Dust'' on the Norwegian label

Curling Legs __NOTOC__ Curling Legs Productions A/S (established 1992 in Oslo, Norway) is a Norwegian record label with a catalogue encompassing all styles of jazz and improvised music. It was started by Knut Værnes and Morten Halle to release their own m ...

. ''City Dust'' was recorded with Jørgen Træen as producer and was a cleaner jazz album than her first and second. Her fourth album, ''Small Hall Classic'', was released in 2006 with produced by Kato Ådland and

Hans Petter Gundersen Hans may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Hans (name), a masculine given name * Hans Raj Hans, Indian singer and politician ** Navraj Hans, Indian singer, actor, entrepreneur, cricket player and performer, son of Hans Raj Hans ** Yuvraj Hans, Punjabi a ...

as producers, also known as "The Sensible Twins". She is the first and only Norwegian artist that have released two albums on

. Eriksen has created her own distinctive style, and has participated as a guest artist on numerous albums, for artists like DumDum Boys, Pogo Pops,

Sondre Lerche Sondre Lerche (; born 5 September 1982) is a Norwegian singer, songwriter, musician and actor. His discography includes ten studio albums and multiple EPs. Early life Growing up in a suburb of Bergen, Lerche was heavily influenced by 1980s pop. ...

, Tommy Tee, Son of Light, and BLee. She collaborated in 1999 with jazz legend and saxophonist Alf Kjellman.

Honors

*1996:

in the class Newcomer for the album ''Standards''

Discography (in selection)

Solo albums

*1996: ''Standards'' (

Blue Note Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Capitol Music Group. Established in 1939 by German-Jewish emigrants Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it derived its name from the blue no ...

) *1998: ''Lovevirgin'' (Blue Note) *2000: ''City Dust'' (

) *2006: ''Small Hall Classic'' (New Records)

Collaborations

;Within Disorient *1996: ''Terra Morte'' (Shrike Records) ;With DumDum Boys, *1998: ''Totem'' (Oh Yeah!) ;With

*2001: ''

Faces Down ''Faces Down'' is the first album released by Norwegian singer-songwriter Sondre Lerche, in 2001. It was released in 2002 in the United States, and in 2003 in Japan. All songs on the album were written by Lerche. The track "Modern Nature" feat ...

'' (

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...

) ;Within The Brimstone Solar Radiation Band *2009: ''Smorgasbord'' (Tinnitus Recordings)

References

External links

Helén Eriksen Biography
on the Norwegian pop and rock lexicon
New Voices, New Directions
on Discogs.com
Helén Eriksen Discography
on Discogs.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Eriksen, Helen Norwegian women jazz singers Norwegian jazz singers Norwegian jazz saxophonists Norwegian composers Norwegian women jazz composers Spellemannprisen winners Musicians from Dale, Vaksdal 1971 births Living people 20th-century Norwegian saxophonists 21st-century Norwegian saxophonists 20th-century Norwegian women singers 20th-century Norwegian singers Norwegian women jazz saxophonists 21st-century Norwegian women singers 21st-century Norwegian singers