Helga Westmark

  "I Close My Eyes" - released 2000

The press wrote:  

Politiken”: ” She has made a splendid cd….. she delivers the song with nice variations of phrases … with a natural sense of swinging and she has a beautiful timbre. ” ( Boris Rabinowithch)

”The Musician”: ”New, danish jazz with fine lyrics and a strong vocalist in front... Helga Søsted´s beautiful compositions often has a nordic tone, which adds originality to the cd.” (Troels Skjærbæk)

Group of musicians: Helga Søsted, voc., Kasper Willaume, pia., Christina von Bülow, sax, Peter Hansen, bass, Martin Klausen, drums.
Lyrics written by Lisa Freeman & Michael Sandwick - both Americans living in Denmark.

 

What the press wrote in 1985!

By Birger Jørgensen, music critic at Aarhus Stiftstidende, Dk:

"Helga is a vocalist in tremendous development with a great voice and a great control of it as well…she is presenting her songs with almost an instrumental  approach…an excellent way of phrasing...she shows a fine perception of the lyrics as well as the melodies without becoming a slave of either of them.  She uses the lyrics and harmonies with the difficult deceptive and casual freedom, which is a result of perceptual and technical control. Helga feels very inspired by Billie Holliday and Sarah Vaughan and also closest related to those, but her style of singing is actually quite comparable to another American jazzsinger, Anita O´day or the more modern singer Carla Bley."

 "Blue Green", released 2004

The press wrote:

DR.music.dk: Mathias B. Christensen: "Blue Green" is a very nice mix of jazzy soul, a bit of latin, classic jazz and some solid pop...Søsted sings her songs with a deep, mature voice with a natural unpretentious phrasing and a nice swinging backing -  I think it´s tasty sounding souljazz."

Group of musicians: Helga Søsted, voc./choir, Jørgen Emborg, pia./choir, Pernille Bévort, sax/choir, Peter Hansen, bass, Martin Klausen, drums/ choir
Lyrics written by Lisa Freeman, Anna-Lia Bright & Michael Sandwick - all Americans living in Dk for a long time.

 

  "Circle of Sun" - released 2018

 

Jazz-critic (Jazz Special, Dk)

"In recent years, many talented Danish female jazz vocalists have popped up. However It's a great pleasure to hear an artist who leaves you with the impression, that she doesn't have to release a cd every year, more or less, but only when she's really got something on her mind, something to say.

To me Helga Søsted belongs to that category. Her voice nicely matured over the years and her compositions reflecting her well-digested inspirations from jazz and soul (with a funky touch), plus a band that is much more than just "supportive", all this together makes a cd you'll enjoy becoming acquainted with" (Thorbjørn Sjøgren)

Group of musicians:

Helga Søsted, Dk,voc./backvocals/ Melodica, Dena DeRose, USA, pia./keyb./backvocals/feat.voc., Morten Ramsbøl, Dk, bass, Howard Curtis, USA, drums./perc., Heinrich van Kalnein, Austria, sax/flute, Guido Jeszenszky, Austria, gui. Lyrics written by Lisa Freeman & Anna-Lia Bright - both Americans living in Dk for many years!The CD is recorded, mixed and mastered by Stefano Amerio in Artesuono Recording Studios, Cavalicco (Udine), Italy

 

   Music is life & life is music 

        Music is a life long commitment

               - like being in love!