In 1994, at the age of 23, the Swedish singer Lisa Ekdahl became famous overnight in her homeland with her debut album and the #1 hit single Vem Vet (Who Knows). The record sold half a million copies and Lisa was awarded three Swedish music prizes, one of them as the nation's best artist of the year. In Denmark and other Scandinavian countries, her album was a success too.
Lisa was discovered by a producer at EMI. But in 1996 and 1997, she recorded her following two pop albums with RCA/BMG: Med Kroppen Mot Jorden and Bortom Det Blå. Then, with When Did You Leave Heaven, Lisa switched to jazz and the English language. In 1998, it was a hit in Sweden and in France. She made new fans with it. In the USA however, it was not greeted with a lot of praise. Her childish voice was (rightly) considered unsuitable for jazz. Lisa's following album, Back To Earth (1999), was again full of jazz standards and, like her jazz debut, recorded with the Peter Nordahl Trio. In France alone, it sold over 40000 copies. Her live appearances in Great Britain were accompanied by positive feedback, e.g. in the Telegraph and the Guardian.
Lisa Ekdahl's sixth album, Lisa Ekdahl sings Salvadore Poe (2000), testifies to artistic and private changes. On her flight to India, she met the composer and guitarist Salvadore Poe. They fell in love and got married. Lisa moved to New York City, her husband's city.
As the new album's title indicates, Lisa exclusively sings songs written by her husband. It is a nostalgic reference to bossa nova. Her fragile and childish voice seems to be made for this type of music. That is also reflected in sales. In France and Scandinavia, were the album was first released, Lisa Ekdahl Sings Salvadore Poe sold over 120000 copies until early 2001.
Salvadore Poe was born in New Jersey. He taught himself the guitar and listened a lot to Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan and the Beatles. As a teenager, he had several bands. His parents had a large jazz and bossa nova collection which influenced him too.
At 17, Poe went to the famous Berklee College in Boston where he studied guitar and jazz composition. His new artistic models were Chick Corea, Miles Davis, Keith Jarrett, Weather Report, Pat Metheny and John McLaughlin. In the late 70s and early 80s, U2, The Police and The Cars became new influences. Poe was a guitarist and songwriter in rock bands in New York and Boston.
In the 1990s, Salvadore Poe worked for film and television. He wrote the soundtrack for the movie The Basketball Diaries with Leonardo di Caprio. For the music channel VH1 he composed songs for The Rock and Roll Picture Show and The VH1 Fashion Awards. He wrote music for CBS' broadcast of the Olympic Winter Games 1998. He also worked for CNN and the car races in Daytona.
After these jobs, Poe took a break and, for inspiration and reflection, traveled to India. As mentioned above, on the plane, he met Lisa, his future wife. They discovered their shared love for bossa nova and, as a result, there is the new album: Lisa Ekdahl Sings Salvadore Poe.
Source: http://www.cosmopolis.ch/english/cosmo17/lisa_ekdahl.htm
