Ina Forsman
Ina Forsman is an award-winning Finnish singer and songwriter based in Helsinki. With a powerful, expressive contralto, she writes and performs songs that intersect blues, jazz, gospel, and R&B. Her phrasing crisscrosses terrain that encompasses the influences of Rickie Lee Jones, Nina Simone, and Billie Holiday; she can dial into a song with a throaty, dynamic wail or a slippery, wry, subtle croon. After winning 2013's Finnish Blues Challenge she cut her debut offering, Ina Forsman, and was selected to represent her homeland at the European Blues Challenge in Riga, Latvia. She signed to Ruf Records, which issued her self-titled debut in 2016. It was recorded over a week in Austin, Texas and released globally to widespread acclaim. She co-produced her 2019 sophomore solo offering Been Meaning to Tell You with Mark "Kaz" Kazanoff at Wire Studios in Austin.
A singer from a young age, Forsman initially caught the ear of renowned harmonica player Helge Tallqvist, who heard her compete on the inaugural season of The Voice of Finland when she was just 15. With her dynamic range and powerhouse voice, Tallqvist sensed Forsman's potential as a blues artist and became her mentor, helping her form her first band and inviting her to sing on-stage with him. In 2013, the two recorded a collaborative album together, and the following year Forsman represented Finland at the European Blues Challenge in Riga. This led to a tour with Belgian blues artist Guy Verlinde. Forsman made her solo debut with a self-titled album on the Ruf Records label in 2016; cut in Austin, Texas with Kazanoff and his Texas Horns, Tallqvist, and guitarists Derek "Big House" O'Brien and Laura Chavez. The set's honey-burnt cover of Nina Simone's "I Want a Little Sugar in My Bowl" landed on global streaming charts and public radio in the U.S. that same year.
Forsman toured the U.S. and Europe with Layla Zoe and Tasha Taylor, resulting in the audio/video disc package Blues Caravan: Blue Sisters 2016. She toured in support of both recordings, playing Europe, Asia, and the U.S. In 2018, she returned to Wire Studio in Austin and, along with Kazanoff, The Texas Horns, guitarist Chavez, and a host of new sidemen, and cut Been Meaning to Tell You in the fall; it was released in January 2019, followed by more touring.
© Timothy Monger /TiVo
Discography
16 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Blues Caravan 2019 (Live)
Ina Forsman, Katarina Pejak, Ally Venable
Blues - Released by Ruf Records GmbH on 20 sep. 2019
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
I Believe to my Soul & Love Me (Live at Sellosali, Espoo, Finland)
Soul - Released by Jazzhaus Records on 16 feb. 2024
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Ina Forsman
Blues - Released by Jazzhaus Records on 22 jan. 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Been Meaning To Tell You
Blues - Released by Jazzhaus Records on 25 jan. 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
All there is
Soul - Released by Jazzhaus Records on 24 jun. 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Before You Go Home & Poor Heart (Live at Tavastia, Helsinki, Finland)
Soul - Released by Jazzhaus Records on 29 mrt. 2024
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Blues Caravan 2019 (Live)
Ina Forsman, Katarina Pejak, Ally Venable
Blues - Released by Ruf Records on 20 sep. 2019
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ina Forsman, Layla Zoe, Tasha Taylor
Ina Forsman, Layla Zoe, Tasha Taylor
Blues - Released by Ruf Records on 3 feb. 2016
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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One Night in Berlin
Soul - Released by Jazzhaus Records on 1 apr. 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
All There is (Radio Edit)
Soul - Released by Jazzhaus Records on 23 jul. 2021
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Don't Lose Today
Soul - Released by Jazzhaus Records on 4 mrt. 2022
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Chain of Fools
Ina Forsman, Tasha Taylor, Layla Zoe
Blues - Released by Ruf Records on 15 jul. 2016
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo