Resonating the feeling of driving home for Christmas, or anytime when you are longing home.

In January 2023, the EP "Vinterstjärnor" (Stars of Winter) was launched. The second part, "Sommarstjärnor", followed in October. The stargazing year culminates in the full-length album "Pleiades”, available on vinyl, CD, and digital platforms November 17th. This is the long-awaited second album from Swedish jazz pianist Emil Ingmar, building on the critically acclaimed debut album from 2020.

Produced by Calle Rasmusson and Emil Ingmar

At a yard sale back home in Värmland, Sweden, I came across this beautiful book from 1902 about stargazing: “Astronomy with an Opera-Glass.”  

  The author, G.P. Serviss, had divided the book into the 'Stars of Spring,' 'Stars of Summer,' 'Stars of Autumn,' and 'Stars of Winter.' I was captivated, not only by the hand-drawn maps of the constellations and the poetic language within its pages, but also by the notion that not much has changed (except maybe the opera-glass) when it comes to us looking up at the night sky.   
   The relationship between humans and space has always been polar: eternal and ever-changing, small and infinite, hope-filled and sad. I suppose standing on a frosty hill, gazing up at the Pleiades may have provided the same sense of awe, smallness, and wonder in me as for everyone else in the history of time. 
   It's that strange sensation of it being incomprehensible that captivates me. The stars of winter raise so many questions and provide almost no answers. They just exist up there, night after night, year after year, for millions of years.

And when the world is chaotic, I can find some sort of solace in the constancy of the stars.

Musicians

Emil Ingmar - piano and keyboards
Fredrik Jonsson - double bass, synth bass 
Calle Rasmusson - drums, percussion, additional synths
Maria Winther - voice 
Blanca Eliasson - french horn 
Jonas Knutsson - soprano saxophone 
Axel Mårdsjö - flutes and clarinets 
Johan Christoffersson - alto saxophone and flute 
Erik Tengholm - flugelhorn and trumpet 
Markus Ahlberg - trombone

Recorded at Kingside Studio by Otto Wellton and at Studio 88 by Calle Rasmusson 
Mixed at Unit 7 by Pål Svenre
Mastered by Klaus Scheuermann 
Distributed by Prophone/Naxos 

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Piano and (very subtle) some Rhodes piano dub

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I went back to the studio where we recorded Karlavagnen in January 2022, exactly one month before I became a dad. 

Short compositions and improvisations, recorded at home during corona lock down.

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Swedish pianist and composer Emil Ingmar makes his debut with a soft-hearted punch in the gut. Twelve songs that reflect just as many places, memories and frames of mind.  It is music from the Swedish forests, the cities and the country side. Music about longing for home, but also leaving it behind.
- It is generally said that music evokes memories, but this time I’ve let my
memories evoke the music, Ingmar says. To me, both difficult and warm
emotions are connected with places I’ve dreamt about, spent a lot of time at or just bicycled through a million times. I guess I’m very nostalgic in that way.

Each member of the stellar band, including Swedish saxophone player Jonas
Knutsson, helps to build a versatile soundscape, ranging from hip hop, folk music and jazz. The warm, acoustic foundation intertwines with electronical elements to create a dynamic full length album. The trip down memory lane reaches its peak in title track Karlavagnen (Swedish word for Big Dipper) – just as unreachable and epic as the star constellation.