GUNHILD CARLING
Singer and multi-instrumentalist Gunhild Carling, who has been called Sweden’s Queen of Swing, is well known internationally, in part because of her YouTube videos, which have earned more than 70 million views. These include collaborations with Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox such as a 1920s jazz/swing take on Madonna’s “Material Girl” that features a tap-dancing segment, and a version of Pharrell Williams’ hit “Happy” in which she plays 10 different instruments, and shows how she can play three trumpets at once (watch both videos below).
Carling will kick off Centenary Stage Company’s 2026-27 Performing Arts Center with a show at The Sitnik Theatre at The Lackland Performing Arts Center in Hackettstown, Sept. 12, and will also perform at The Loft at City Winery in Manhattan, Sept. 18.
While she is best known for putting new spins on familiar pop songs, her last album, 2024’s Jazz Is My Lifestyle, is a collection of all-original tunes (listen to the jaunty title track below), recorded with her Gunhild Carling Big Band.
Born into a musical family in Gothenburg, Sweden, Carling began recording in the 1980s, and has lived in California since 2018.
“Since I was a child, I’ve been doing the exact same thing, playing and singing New Orleans jazz,” she said in a recent interview with New York City Jazz Record. “People in America often ask me why I play in a New Orleans style as a Swedish person, but this form of music has been and still is huge in Scandinavia, since the ’60s. The audiences really know the artists and have heard all the essential recordings.”
GUNHILD CARLING
She also said in that interview that “In Europe we fell in love with jazz through records, and we see it as like the
classical music of the 20th century. It’s more free in America. You can mix and match as you like.”
Carling has presented concerts and recorded with the veteran cabaret artist Billy Stritch (listen to them on the Carling-written “Million Stars Are Out Tonight,” below). Stritch has said: “Without fear of exaggeration, I can honestly say that Gunhild Carling is an exceptional musician and entertainer with a truly unique talent. I have worked all over the world with stars like Liza Minnelli and Tony Bennett (among others) and can honestly say that Gunhild is unlike anyone I’ve seen in my over 40 years in show business.
“Gunhild Carling captivates an audience in a way I’ve never seen and her talent is worthy of much wider recognition in the United States.”
Gunhild Carling will perform at The Sitnik Theatre at The Lackland Performing Arts Center in Hackettstown, Sept. 12 at 7:30 p.m. (visit centenarystageco.org), and at The Loft at City Winery in Manhattan, Sept. 18 at 7 p.m. (visit citywinery.com).
For more about her, visit gunhildcarling.net.
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