Radka Toneff

Norwegian jazz musician and composer, born 25 June 1952 in Oslo, died 21 October 1982 in Oslo.

She was a style-former in jazz through a personal expression that is described as low-key and intense. Her popularity extended far beyond jazz circles.

From 1971 to 1975, Toneff studied at the Oslo Conservatory of Music. She played in the jazz rock band Unis. Between 1975 and 1980, she ran her own jazz quintet, the Radka Toneff Quintet, together with Arild Andersen and Jon Eberson. During this period, her first recordings, Winter Poem and It Don't Come Easy, were released, albums produced by Arild Andersen and Lars Klevstrand. Radka Toneff was awarded the Spellemannprisen in 1977 in the category of best vocalist, for her work on Winter Poem. On the album It Don't Come Easy, Toneff made her debut as a lyricist. In 1980, Radka Toneff participated in the Norwegian selection for the Eurovision Song Contest with the entry "Parken", a song by Ole Paus. Toneff competed again the following year, then as a member of the group Darlings who performed the entry "Født på ny".

Toneff was posthumously awarded the Norwegian Jazz Association's Buddy Prize in 1982. After the release of the concert album Live in Hamburg in 1993, Toneff was awarded the Spellemann Prize in the jazz category.

Together with the Swedish-American pianist Steve Dobrogosz, Toneff recorded the album Fairytales in 1982. The album, which has also attracted international attention, was named the best Norwegian album of all time in 2011 by the newspaper Morgenbladet. Fairytales was recorded 15–17 February 1982 at the Grieghallen in Bergen.

Her father was from Bulgaria and her mother Norwegian.