Pleiades Emil Ingmar

• 1 Vinterstjärnor 02:12
• 2 Pegasus 04:17
• 3 Canis Major 03:06
• 4 Pleiades 03:03
• 5 Orion 05:02
• 6 Interlude 01:06
• 7 The Night the Stars Fell 04:15
• 8 Bear Driver 05:19
• 9 Augusti 05:21
• 10 Sommarstjärnor 03:02
• Total Runtime 36:43

Info for Pleiades

This is the long-awaited second album from Swedish jazz pianist Emil Ingmar, building on the critically acclaimed debut album from 2020.

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.

Emil Ingmar, piano, 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
Produced by Calle Rasmusson and Emil Ingmar

Please Note: We offer this album in its native sampling rate of 48 kHz, 24-bit. The provided 96 kHz version was up-sampled and offers no audible value!

Emil Ingmar
Music from the Swedish forests, cities and countryside.

Music about longing for home, but also about leaving it behind.

Swedish pianist and composer Emil Ingmar has stayed with producing intuitive, heartfelt, dynamic instrumental music since critically acclaimed debut album Karlavagnen.

It is generally said that music evokes memories, but I like to work the other way around.

For me, the full spectrum of emotions are intertwined with the places I’ve dreamt about, spent a lot of time in or simply bicycled through a million times. I suppose I’m quite nostalgic in that way.

Born in Karlstad, Sweden, the interest for music showed from early days.

I remember lying next to the old floor standing speakers, listening to Swedish 90's pop. I was fascinated to see and feel the vibrations from the bass coming out from the speaker. This physical connection with music perhaps is why I gravitated toward the piano early on. I have always loved the vibrant feel especially from the lower parts of the piano.

After piano studies at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm, life took another turn.

I never felt rooted in the big city, so I moved to Uppsala and started studying psychology at the university. At the same time I started freelancing as a musician. In a way I lived two parallell lives, it was a bit chaotic. I wrote my master's thesis in music psychology, and this was the first time the different paths converged.

The same year I sat in at a musical show where drummer Calle Rasmusson and bassist Fredrik Jonsson also worked. I took a chance and asked if they wanted to record some songs I had worked on for several years. Luckily, they said yes. This was in 2019 and the start of a very joyful and learnful collaboration. Calle Rasmusson and I have since worked on almost all of my releases. It has been such a great pleasure, and I feel very grateful for having such great people to work with.

Booklet for Pleiades