Malene Mortensen

Early Life and Education

Malene Winther Mortensen was born on May 23, 1982, into a musical family in Denmark. Her mother was a drummer and her father a jazz trumpeter, so music surrounded her from an early age. As a teenager, Malene sang in various jazz and pop groups while in high school, honing her vocal skills. One of these groups, a jazz combo called Zongo Quartet, was even selected in 2000 to represent Denmark at a youth music festival in Sweden. Music played a major role throughout her youth, and she drew inspiration from both pop legends like Beyoncé and Whitney Houston and jazz icons such as Sarah Vaughan. After high school, Malene pursued formal music education. She enrolled at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory in Copenhagen and later earned her degree with distinction in 2012, further grounding her talent in professional training.

Early Career in Pop Music

Malene’s national breakthrough came in 2001 when she competed in the first season of Stjerne for en aften, the Danish edition of the TV talent show Star for a Night. Her powerful rendition of Moloko’s “Sing It Back” wowed audiences and took her to the finals. The very next year, at age 19, she entered and won Denmark’s prestigious song contest, the Dansk Melodi Grand Prix. This victory earned Malene the honor of representing Denmark at the Eurovision Song Contest 2002. She performed the pop ballad “Tell Me Who You Are” on the Eurovision stage, watched by millions across Europe. Although she did not win the international competition (Denmark finished 24th that year), the experience gave her widespread exposure. It also marked a turning point, as Malene transitioned her focus from pop stardom to a deeper passion: jazz.

Jazz Career and Albums

After Eurovision, Malene Mortensen embraced jazz as the core of her music career. In 2003, she released her debut album Paradise, a modern jazz album that showcased her smooth vocals and musical maturity. Notably, Paradise was recorded with three of Denmark’s best-known jazz musicians – pianist Niels Lan Doky, bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen, and drummer Alex Riel – giving the young singer strong jazz credibility from the start. Building on this success, Malene quickly followed up with a second album, Date with a Dream (2005), which featured contributions from acclaimed Israeli-American bassist Avishai Cohen. This album continued to blend lush jazz arrangements with Malene’s pop and soul influences.

She maintained a steady output of recordings through the late 2000s, further establishing her presence in the jazz scene. Her self-titled album Malene came out in 2006. In 2007 she released …To All of You, a collection of Christmas songs showcasing her versatility. An international edition of this project was also released under the title Desperado in 2007. 

By 2009, Malene had recorded Agony & Ecstasy, adding to a growing discography that solidified her style in vocal jazz. In 2012, she reached a milestone by releasing two albums in the same year: You Go to My Head, which interpreted jazz standards, and Still in Love with You, an album released exclusively in Thailand to cater to her strong fanbase in Asia. These releases demonstrated her ability to sing both classic jazz tunes and original songs with equal finesse. In the mid-2010s, Malene’s creativity continued with Can’t Help It (2015) and You Belong to Me (2016), which infused smooth modern sounds into her jazz repertoire.

Collaboration

Malene Mortensen has kept evolving her music up to the present. In 2019, she put out At Elske Er At Leve (“To Love Is to Live”), a Danish-language album featuring jazz interpretations of classic Danish songs, created in collaboration with veteran pianist Ole Kock Hansen. Most recently, in 2022, she released A New Kind of Love, her 14th record to date. This album combines Malene’s own new songs with fresh arrangements of jazz standards, reflecting how she bridges the worlds of jazz and pop in a contemporary way. Each album in her discography marks a chapter of artistic growth, and together they showcase her range. It goes from soulful pop ballads to swinging jazz numbers. 

Notable Performances and Appearances

Beyond her studio work, Malene Mortensen is widely recognized for her engaging live performances. Her initial fame on television introduced her to a broad audience. In the years since, she has become a fixture on the jazz concert circuit. Malene appears regularly at jazz clubs and festivals, delighting audiences with her warm stage presence and vocal talent. For example, she took the stage at the Copenhagen Jazz Festival in 2016. She has also performed at international events, including jazz festivals in Europe and Asia, showcasing her music to diverse crowds. Over more than two decades, Malene has given over 1,500 concerts worldwide. She has toured under her own name in countries as far-ranging as the United States, Australia, Thailand, and numerous nations across Europe.