If you only know Monica Zetterlund from a Eurovision perspective, you might recall that her
song, En Gång i Stockholm, received null points in 1963; however, it lived on to become a Jazz
standard in her native country.
Monica Z famously insisted that jazz in Sweden should and could be written by Swedes. Before
her, Swedish singers only sang works by American composers. To prove her point, she
collaborated with the likes of Bill Evans, Louis Armstrong, and Stan Getz for instrumental
legitimacy, but the words and compositions were distinctly Swedish in character.
Her breakout hit, post Eurovision, was titled “Waltz for Debby” in Engilsh and “Monicas wals” in
Swedish. Here, you can watch Bill Evans and Monica Z work on the song together: