EPK
About
Emilia Mårtensson, ”A voice of quite remarkable expressive depth” -(JAZZWISE), is a London based Swedish vocalist and composer with a well deserved reputation as being one of the most exciting vocalists on the UK Jazz scene which in 2016 led to her being awarded ‘Vocalist of the Year′ at The Parliamentary Jazz Awards. Emilia has led ensembles that has performed all over the world including major Jazz Festivals such as The Rochester Jazz Festival in New York, Ljubljana Jazz Festival in Slovenia, and Umeå Jazz Festival in Sweden.
Her gently expressive voice and highly personal compositions are firmly rooted within the folklore and countryside of her native southern Sweden, adding to the mystique and allure of a distinctive and truly original artist. Emilia is also known for being part of the MOBO award winning British contemporary jazz quartet Kairos 4tet, led by Adam Waldmann.
"...always intriguing, often beautiful and thought-provoking”. -Jazzjournal
"Emilia Mårtensson's singing bobbed and weaved like a great boxer. She lured the crowd close with a whisper, then sent them flying with a note strong as Ali's right hook. With her mass of kinky blonde curls flying about her, she stretched and cast the notes and phrases into her desired shapes. The airwaves were her clay, her sculptures instant and fleeting. No one the same as another. And every tune she took would have filled a gallery with marvels". -James Fleming (All about Jazz)
In the past, Emilia has also received recognition from The Observer as ‘The new face of British jazz’ in 2012. In 2013 she was chosen by ‘Svensk Jazz’ for Pulsslags Turnen, which took her on a two-week-long tour around Sweden to promote her album ‘Ana.’ Her success as a bandleader also led her to partake in ‘The Take Five’ Artist Program delivered by national music producers Serious in 2015.
Emilia is a regular performer at some of Europe’s leading venues and festivals and has appeared at The London Jazz Festival, Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, Bimhuis in Amsterdam, Sunset Sunside in Paris, Fasching in Stockholm, Ljubljana Jazz Festival, and The Love Supreme Jazz Festival in the UK to name just a few.
Her solo albums ‘And so it goes’ (Babel Label-2012’) and ‘Ana’ (Babel Label-2014) got listed in the ‘top ten best albums’ by JazzWise.
Her NEW project ‘LOREDANA‘ released in 2019, on BABEL LABEL, features guitarist Luca Boscagin, percussionist Adriano Adewale, trumpeter Fulvio Sigurta and bassist Sam Lasserson. This new project explores the adversity and the wilderness of the term mother, celebrating the infinite observations about the ‘mother-child relationship’ and how this can shape us throughout our lives. Initially inspired through four specific questions that Emilia asked her audience about their relationship to their mothers, her boundary-pushing and original music crosses borders between Scandinavian folk, jazz, and art. pop.
Music
PRESS
'Vocalist of the year-2016' The Parliamentary Jazz Awards
“Exquisitely beautiful songs... Martensson has struck gold.” – JAZZWISE
“...a voice of quite remarkable expressive depth” – JAZZWISE
“...the music is immediately enchanting, bewitching, and approachable...” – AllAboutJazz
“...the album is a thing of simple beauty...what really impresses is a talent for story telling and for drawing the listener in...taste-makers take note!” – JazzUK
...”Ethereal Voice... -Time
Emilia Performed At...
The Royal Albert Hall, London
The Barbican Centre, London
Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club, London
The Vortex, London
Pizza Express Dean Street London
Manchester Jazz Festival, UK
Sligo Jazz Festival, Ireland
Fasching, Stockholm
ICVT Vocal Congress, Stockholm
London Jazz Festival
Jamie Cullum’s BBC Radio 2 show
Rochester Jazz Festival, New York
Cheltenham Jazz Festival
Bimhuis, Amsterdam
Sunset Sunside Jazz Club,Paris
Vossa Jazz Festival , Norway
Umea Jazz Festival, Sweden
Ystad Jazz Festival , Sweden
Ljubljana Jazz Festival. Slovenia
Salon, Istanbul
to name a few…
Photos
