Nightjar in the Northern Sky

Anna Gréta - Star of SpringCD / Vinyl / digital Anna Gréta piano, vocals, backing vocals & all keyboards Einar Scheving drums and percussion Skúli Sverrisson electric bass Þorleifur Gaukur Davíðsson guitar & pedal steel Birgir Steinn Theodórsson double bass Magnús Trygvason Eliassen drums Sigurður Flosason bass clarinet Albert Finnbogason synthesizer Anna Gréta goes gentle...into her second album on ACT, “Star of Spring”. The Reykjavik-born pianist, singer and a songwriter, who has lived in Stockholm since 2014, has her own way of approaching the art of quiet, artful, deeply personal songs, often drawing inspiration from the beauty and power of Iceland’s natural landscape. Her 2021 ACT debut "Nightjar in the Northern Sky" was named after a bird, and this follow-up album lands gracefully on a flower, the “glory of the snow”, also known as the "star of spring", which symbolises the ending of winter and the arrival of spring. But look closer, and there are always other levels of meaning. Her "Nightjar”, the rare bird she once saw in front of the northern sky, was a metaphor for the search for the things which are special and essential. In fact, almost all of Anna Gréta's lyrics have more than one significance, and her storytelling has now taken a leap forward on "Star of Spring". She says of the little flower on the title track: "I wasn't just inspired by the way it takes over the meadows in spring and turns them from green to blue, but also by the fact that it blooms because it is compelled to do so. It cannot do anything else."Anna Gréta's starting point to creating music was and is the piano. She first studied classical music, then switched to jazz. She only started singing later, when she was writing the songs for Nightjar and wanted to express herself in words. Anna Gréta's debut as a singer, pianist and songwriter earned her international acclaim: Downbeat Magazine called it „an album with the metamophoric diversity of a year’s seasons and a voice like the everchanging colours of the Northern lights“, France Musique “a remarkably immersive experience” and Jazzwise “starkly beautiful”. On "Star Of Spring" Anna Gréta has further developed her individual style. Her vocal lines can resemble piano motifs, often doubling them and resonating with an impressively quiet vibrato, sometimes quirkily reminiscent of Björk, at other times with the brooding ease of Norah Jones. The album also bears a very distinctive production style. For each of the songs, Anna Gréta has created her own little world of choirs, rhythmic textures and various smartly used keyboard instruments. The album ranges from the hymnal and elegiac - in "She Moves" or in the title track - to the playful and cheerful "Space Time" or the extremely pared-down melancholic ballad "Denouement". And even if the general mood of the music exudes above all warmth and comfort, Anna Gréta also deals with serious topics, such as the forced birth control of women in Greenland during the 60s and 70s in the song "The Body Remembers". There is a directness of expression and emotionality, even sensuousness about the new album, and that is not least because Anna Gréta’s band has developed and become a properly played-in unit with the experience to take this album’s more complex arrangements in its stride. The sheen and brightness of her piano playing is contrasted with a deeper voice, that of her father Sigurður Flosason's bass clarinet, on three tracks. "This album is more playful and experimental," she says. "A lot of things were easier for me than on the first album. And while I was still completely focussed on my own world then, now I was even more conscious and aware of what was going on around me." The result is music that is rooted in jazz, but at the same time goes far beyond it in a very subtle and deeply touching way.Credits:Produced by Anna Gréta

Nils Landgren - 3 GenerationsCD / Vinyl / digital Nils Landgren with Joachim Kühn, Michael Wollny, Iiro Rantala, Lars Danielsson, Cæcilie Norby, Viktoria Tolstoy, Wolfgang Haffner, Ulf Wakenius, Jan Lundgren, Ida Sand, Youn Sun Nah, Vincent Peirani, Emile Parisien, David Helbock, Marius Neset, Nesrine, Julian & Roman Wasserfuhr, Anna Gréta, Johanna Summer, Jakob Manz, and many more We are Family – Celebrating 30 ACT Years Nils Landgren has been and remains the absolute linchpin of the ACT family. To date, the Swede has made forty albums on the label as leader, plus another twenty as producer or soloist. Michael Wollny, whose many many projects with Landgren give him a special connection, sums up a key ele-ment in his success: “With Nils everything becomes easy.” There is indeed a particular ease about Mr. Red Horn’s way of being; it is infectious and runs through everything he does. Which is all the more remarkable when one considers the sheer number of roles he takes on: trombonist, singer, band-leader, producer, festival director, professor, curator, talent scout and mentor.All of Landgren’s multiple roles and traits come to the fore on “3 Generations”. Working alongside producer and ACT founder Siggi Loch, Nils Landgren brings together three gene-rations of ACT artists’ in various line-ups to mark the label’s 30th anniversary. Landgren and Loch have a friendship and habits of working well together which go back almost as long as the existence of ACT itself. The two met for the first time at the 1994 Jazz Baltica Festival, just two years after the label was founded. Landgren became an exclusive ACT artist shortly thereafter. Since that time, it has been through Landgren’s network that artists such as Esbjörn Svensson, Rigmor Gustafsson, Viktoria Tolstoy, Ida Sand, Wolfgang Haffner and many more have joined the label. Nils Landgren continues in his trusted role as ACT’s leading connector and integrator. Finding and nurturing young talent has always been one of ACT’s strong suits. It was true for Nils Landgren, then later for Michael Wollny who joined the label in 2005 and is today one of the most significant pianists in Europe. With artists such as Johanna Summer and Jakob Manz - both born many years after ACT was founded - the label looks to the future with its younger generation of musicians bringing new ener-gy and impetus to the world of jazz.The Times (UK) has written: “Since 1992, ACT has been building its own European union of musicians, fostering a freedom of movement between nationalities and genres, and has given us an authentic impression of what the continent is about.” “3 Generations” demonstrates quite how true that assertion is. Around forty artists from the ACT Family make this anniversary album a celebration of the breadth, openness and inclusive power of jazz. The core of the album consists of recordings made at a summer 2022 studio session lasting several days. In reality, it is only Nils Landgren and Siggi Loch who could have brought this pano-rama of musical Europe into being. The influences here range from jazz, popular song and folk to classical and contempo-rary music, and much more. Thirty tracks from three generations of musicians marking thirty years of ACT, with Nils Landgren as driving force. Not just a retrospective, but above all an insight into the present and future of the discovery label “in the Spirit of Jazz”.Credits: Recorded by Thomas Schöttl at Jazzanova Studio, Berlin on June 7 - 9, 2022, assisted by José Victor Torell – except as otherwise indicated Mixed and mastered by Klaus Scheuermann Produced by Siggi Loch and Nils Landgren The Art in Music: Cover Art by Yinka Shonibare CBE: Detail from Creatures of the Mappa Mundi, Mandragora, 2018

Various Artists - Magic Moments 15: In the Spirit of JazzCD / digitalBest jazz infotainment for the 30th anniversary of ACT: 16 tracks, 65 minutes of music in the spirit of jazz, featuring artists like Nils Landgren, Emile Parisien & Theo Croker, Iiro Rantala, Vincent Peirani Trio, Michael Wollny Trio, Joel Lyssarides, Jakob Manz & Johanna Summer, and more.Credits: Compilation by Siggi Loch Mastered by Klaus Scheuermann

Various Artists - Fantastische FrauenCD / digital Julia Hülsmann & Rebekka Bakken, Anna Gréta, Solveig Slettahjell, Céline Bonacina, Ida Sand, Cæcilie Norby, Viktoria Tolstoy, Johanna Summer, Rigmor Gustafsson, Terri Lyne Carrington, Rita Marcotulli, Nesrine, Youn Sun Nah, Janne Mark, Kadri Voorand, Laila Biali Music is feminine. And it always has been, whether in Italian, German and French. Viva la musica. Die Musik. La musique. And in jazz? During the 20th century female musicians lives were lived in the shadows. Lil Hardin, for example, wrote compositions like “Struttin‘ With Some Barbecue”, and yet while her husband Louis Armstrong was becoming famous, she was hardly noticed at all. She was, as she described it later, “standing at the bottom of the ladder holding it and watching him climb.” Since then, however, things have moved on. Progress may be slow, but things are definitely changing. In jazz, today the female element has gone way beyond just the “girl singer with a band”. It is not only quite normal for a woman to be playing electric guitar, bass, drums or trumpet, we now have musicians such as Terri Lyne Carrington serving as important role models. “Fantastische Frauen” presents a selection of the strong female voices who have either forged their careers in partnership with ACT, or at least been with the label for part of their journey. Some came to the label at the beginning of their careers; others were already more established: Berlin-based pianist/composer Julia Hülsmann released three albums for ACT in the early 2000s, showing a refined sensitivity for language and a flawless instinct for setting poetry to music. “Same Girl” is her arrangement of the Randy Newman song, with Norwegian singer Rebekka Bakken as a kindred spirit on the album “Scattering Poems”.  Scandinavian singers have always been a major presence on ACT, including some stalwarts who have been with the label for several years: Viktoria Tolstoy, from Sweden, has eight albums to her name on ACT, of which “Shining On You” was the first. It features compositions by probably the most important Swedish jazz musician of the last 20 years, pianist Esbjörn Svensson. Icelandic pianist/singer Anna Gréta is a new member of the ACT family. “Nightjar in the Northern Sky” is simple, direct and con-cise. Solveig Slettahjell (Norway), Ida Sand (Sweden, both singer and pianist), Cæcilie Norby (Denmark) and Rigmor Gustafsson (Sweden) are important and well-established figures on the scene, and are all much more than “mere” singers: they have been writing and arranging their own music for many years, and also penning the lyrics and leading their own bands.  Janne Mark from Denmark occupies a very special place: she has found her own fascinating path between folk music, church hymns and jazz. Kadri Voorand from Estonia is also much more than just a singer. Alongside her mind-boggling vocal skills and her clever use of effects devices, the fact of quite how good a pianist she is – and also lyricist and composer – runs the risk of being overlooked. “I’m Not in Love” is both charming and unsett-ling, with just the right mixture of each. Youn Sun Nah, from South Korea, brought her love of French chanson and jazz to Europe, and has made some terrific recordings: “Momento Magico” with guitarist Ulf Wakenius stuns with its virtuosity, leaving the listener breathless. Nesrine creates magical worlds of sound with no boundaries: Cello and voice with Arabic roots and Mediterranean soul. Canadian vocalist/pianist Laila Biali combines everything which is good about singer-songwriting. Céline Bonacina takes on an unusual role; there are still not many well-known female baritone saxophonists, and even fewer who lead their own interesting bands. This Frenchwoman absolutely does her own thing... ...something which can also be said about pianist Johanna Summer. She chose Robert Schumann’s “Kinderszenen” (scenes from childhood) and “Album für die Jugend” (album for the young) as the starting point for free improvisations. Her album has had a major impact.  For Italian pianist Rita Marcotulli, the power of melody is the driving force – her album with the accordionist Luciano Biondini has a dreamlike quality. Today US-American Terri Lyne Carrington is one of the leading figures on the drum set and has played with all of the greats of jazz. She shared the stage with Wayne Shorter, composer of the classic “Witch Hunt” when she was still in her twenties. “Fantastische Frauen” is a very apt title for this album because music is female and so, increasingly, is jazz. The fact that this is now recognised and appreciated has been a major step forward. At some point in the future it will only ever be about the music, irrespective of whether it has been created or performed by male, female or diverse artists. And that will be the next big step forward.Credits: Curated by Siggi Loch Mastered by Klaus Scheuermann

Anna Gréta - Nightjar in the Northern SkyCD / Vinyl / digital Anna Gréta piano, keyboards, vocals, backing vocals Skúli Sverrisson bass Einar Scheving drums Hilmar Jensson guitar Sigurður Flosason saxophone Johan Tengholm double bass Ragnheiður Gröndal backing vocals Nightjar in the Northern Sky. An iconic, almost familiar image that instantly sets up a scenery, a temperature, a state of mind. Why? Probably because it has such a strong effect describing a place of longing that many people are only too happy to imagine themselves in. The album of the same name by pianist and singer Anna Gréta creates such a setting, implying vast spaces, diffused Nordic light and comforting intimacy. Her music is shaped by these familiar yet surreal Nordic sounds, which her native Iceland has instilled in her since birth. Growing up near the capital of Reykjavík, her father (who also guests on the album) is a jazz saxophonist – so it’s evident that music surrounded her throughout her childhood. The first formative influence that Anna Gréta remembers was The Beatles’ Let It Be: “This song, its simplicity and power, and the harmony between voice and piano, touch me to this day”. But jazz, also, was a constant companion throughout her youth - among many others, the music of Bill Evans opened up a whole musical world. Indeed, her talent for the piano came to light early on, as did her affinity with jazz; and, as a youngster, she played her first steady jazz gig in Reykjavik. In 2014, Anna Gréta eventually moved to Stockholm - where she still lives today - to study music at the Royal College of Music.  Anna Gréta quickly caused a stir in Sweden. She began to work with the country’s prominent jazz musicians such as Joakim Milder, Magnus Lindgren, or the Norrbotten Big Band, receiving numerous prizes, including the ‘Monica Zetterlund Scholarship’, a nomination for ‘Jazzkatten’ from Swedish Radio, the Icelandic Music Award as ‘Newcomer of the Year’ and the ‘Jazzclub Fasching Society Award’. She made prominent live appearances such as at the Nobel Prize in 2020 and a concert at Stockholm Concert Hall. In 2019, Brighter, her first album as co-leader with Swedish guitarist Max Schultz, was released. Hearing Anna Gréta at the piano, one witnesses an astonishingly mature artist, with profound technique, a deep understanding of style and harmony and a vast range of expression. So as a pianist she has already made a real name for herself. But her songwriting affinity for vocal expression was calling for something else: “I always had the greatest respect for female singer-instrumentalists, like the wonderful Norah Jones. But at the same time, I didn’t want to be forced into this stereotype, that a woman in a jazz band automatically needed to be the singer. So it was important for me to dive deeper into the piano to grow as a musician as a whole, until I could finally introduce my own voice when it felt right, rather than meeting any kind of expectation.” Eventually, over a period of two years, and partly influenced by the isolation of the global pandemic, the twelve compositions of Nightjar in the Northern Sky emerged – with Anna Gréta now as both pianist and vocalist. Together with pop-experienced producer Albert Finnbogason, she chose the perfect, hand-picked line-up and sound for each of her refined, harmonious compositions. And, although created within a cohesive framework, she draws elements from a diverse range of musical styles – especially blending elements of jazz, pop, classical and folk. The recording’s title sets the tone for the imagery created by Anna Gréta’s songs – a metaphor for Scandinavian expanses, tranquillity and the close connection to nature. As she says, “Nature is just so much bigger than most of the other things that otherwise seem so significant to us. And it is, in its infinite facets, perhaps the greatest inspiration for my music. A place where the noise falls silent and you can feel and hear yourself again. Recently, I have been introduced to birdwatching – something that I reflect on in the title track. When you observe nature carefully, you can experience something unique – a little like searching for love. The nightjar is a bird that is rarely seen flying across the sky in Sweden and has been seen in Iceland less than five times. I feel that everyone is looking for something unique in their lives; and nature can offer that to those who are open to it.” And so, with each of the tracks on this album, she creates self-contained worlds that are part of a bigger picture, light-footed, relaxed, reduced, concentrated. And a remarkably multilayered, immersive and beautiful experience.