It’s time for Nordic Jazz 2020! Join us for a series of jazz performances by some of the top Nordic artists in a series hosted with the Nordic Embassies in Washington D.C.! Each day at 12:00pm ET starting Monday, June 22 through Friday, June 26, a free online concert will be live on Facebook with performances from top Nordic musicians. Find the full schedule below and be sure to watch here.
Monday, June 22 Sinne Eeg & The Shanghai Trio (Denmark)
Tuesday, June 23 Verneri Pohjola (Finland)
Wednesday, June 24 Ingi Bjarni Quintet (Iceland)
Thursday, June 25 Kornstad Trio (Norway)
Friday, June 26 Isabella Lundgren (Sweden)
About the Musicians
Monday, June 22
Sinne Eeg & The Shanghai Trio
Denmark
Sinne Eeg has many loyal fans in the U.S., Scandinavia and Asia. She is poised for a major breakthrough in
the U.S., where she regularly tours. She has performed with American jazz icons including Larry Goldings,
Peter Erskine and Ken Peplowski, and at storied jazz clubs including Green Mill in Chicago and Birdland in
New York.
The Danish songstress is versatile, equally comfortable fronting big orchestras in concert halls as well as smaller ensembles in intimate jazz clubs. Audiences are mesmerized by her incandescent phrasing and scatting, all with natural, perfect pitch.
Eeg is not only a brilliant vocalist; she is also a great songwriter. Her talent for writing and composing won the prestigious Danish Carl Prize 2018 for Song of the Year, “Aleppo,” included on her album “Dreams.” She has received numerous accolades, including four Danish Music Awards, the Danish Radio P2 Jazz Prize, the Ben Webster Prize, the French Prix Du Jazz and Queen Ingrid’s Honorary Grant, personally awarded by Queen Margrethe of Denmark. www.sinnemusic.com
Tuesday, June 23
Verneri Pohjola
Finland
Trumpet player and composer Verneri Pohjola has earned a reputation as one of Europe’s most creative and original innovators in jazz for his commanding sound, expressive tone and the rich intensity of his improvisations. Pohjola first became known in Finland as a member of a hip club soul band Quintessence. A group led by Pohjola, Ilmiliekki Quartet, has won numerous awards and the first place in the Young Nordic Jazz Comets ensemble competition. Pohjola has received various significant awards like the Yrjö Award, the highest national jazz award in Finland. He has been working together with many international musicians such as Anthony Braxton, Jeff Ballard, Anders Jormin and Stefan Pasborg. Pohjola’s solo debut album Aurora was released internationally in 2011, receiving excellent press reviews internationally. Since then, he has released several albums including Ancient History (2012), Bullhorn (2015), Pekka (2017), Animal Image (2018) and The Dead Don’t Dream (2020). https://www.verneripohjola.com/
Wednesday, June 24
Ingi Bjarni Quintet
Iceland
Icelandic pianist Ingi Bjarni brings together artists and friends from his longtime association with Scandinavia, in a quintet consisting of Norwegian trumpeter Jakob Eri Myhre, Estonian guitarist Merje Kägu, Swedish double bassist Daniel Andersson and Norwegian drummer Tore Ljøkelsøy. Their album, Tenging (Icelandic for “connection”) references Ingi Bjarni‘s personal discovery of his inner musicality through the exploration of flow, freedom, confidence and, most pertinently, intuition. https://ingibjarni.com/ingi-bjarni-quintet/
Thursday, June 25
Kornstad Trio
Norway
Kornstad Trio (II) started performing together in 2016. Saxophonist and singer Håkon Kornstad is joined by two of the finest and most versatile improvisers on the European music scene today. The repertoire still consists of classical songs and opera arias infused with improvisation and strong interplay. However, this trio has a transparency and presence that makes it stand out from the rest of Kornstad’s projects. The music is in constant motion, and the outpouring of ideas and calls and responses — in an almost avant garde jazz fashion — makes for a highly different concert each and every night. But beware: This is not modern jazz. Not in the old fashioned way, at least. Rather, every concert takes on a different journey, full of freedom, warmth and humor — and always together with the audience: Jazz fans, opera lovers, and all those who simply want music to be (a)live. https://www.kornstad.com/trio.html
Friday, June 26
Isabella Lundgren
Sweden
Isabella Lundgren is one of Sweden’s foremost jazz artists. She has released four acclaimed albums in Sweden and four in Japan. Svenska Dagbladet music reviewer Dan Backman called her “among the best that has happened to the Swedish jazz scene.” Her album “Somehow Life Got in the Way” was rewarded with the Orkester Journalens Gyllene Skivan 2015, and the albums ‘’Where is Home’’ and ‘’Out of the Bell Jar’’ were both gram-nominated in 2016 and 2020. In 2015 Isabella was awarded a jazz cat as musician of the year during the Swedish Radio Jazz Gala. In addition, Isabella has been awarded the Monica Zetterlund Scholarship, Stim Scholarship, Louis Armstrong and Anita O’Day Scholarship, Stockholm City Cultural Scholarship and Gustaf Fröding Scholarship. She is a Chronicleist in Sweden’s Jazz Radio and made an outstanding summer talk in P1 2015 where she highlighted several of the life issues that are reflected and are central to her music. Isabella’s group consists of three of Sweden’s foremost and most diligent jazz musicians. Isabella and the trio have been frequently recorded over the years by the Swedish Radio at Stockholm, Ystads, Sandvikens and Umeås jazz festivals. In addition to Sweden, they have toured Japan, Portugal, Norway, Greece, Germany, and the United States. http://www.isabellalundgren.com/?lang=en
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