Saxophonist and composer Elin Forkelid has been setting the tone for Swedish jazz for over 15 years. With her new project Songs to Keep You Company on a Dark Night, she explores a more subdued and contemplative side of her art. The origin and inspiration for the project is trumpeter Kenny Wheeler‘s album Angel Song from 1997, a record that has accompanied Elin for a long time.
”For this album, I wanted to take a different path. I wanted to explore another side of myself and my artistry. I sometimes think about how every human is full of contradictions; Every personality consists of so many different sides, but sometimes we tend to forget about that and limit ourselves.
One thing that every human being has in common though, is the need for comfort from time to time. I wrote these songs as an attempt to bring a little comfort, to whomever may need it. Some simple Songs To Keep You Company On A Dark Night.”
STKYCOADN was launched at a concert during the Stockholm Jazz Festival in 2023. On a frozen January day in 2024, the music was recorded in the historic Atlantis studio in Stockholm.
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Photo: Peter Gannushkin
Born in 1984 in southern Sweden, Elin (maiden name Larsson) moved to Stockholm at the age of 20 to pursue saxophone and jazz studies at the Royal College of Music. For the last 15 years, she has been a prominent voice on the Swedish jazz and impro scene. Starting off with her first own band Elin Larsson Group, Elin gained a wide recognition with the debut album Live And Alive (Playing With Music/ Border 2009). In 2010 she was awarded Newcomer of the year by the Swedish Jazz Radio. The debut was followed by albums Let You In (Playing With Music/Border 2011) and Growing Up (Playing With Music/Border 2013). In 2013 Elin received another prestigious award, The Lars Gullin Prize, in recognition of her work for the development of Swedish Jazz.
In 2013, Elin started working with the praised Anna Högberg Attack, a six piece band that has since then released two much acclaimed albums and toured Europe frequently. Around this time she also performed a lot with Mats Gustafsson’s FIRE! Orchestra and found herself being more and more drawn towards free music. Today, Elin works primarily with her own band Elin Forkelid Plays For Trane, a quintet that plays willful interpretations of jazz giant John Coltrane’s work, along with quartet SOL SOL, which she leads and composes for together with guitar player David Stackenäs. Elin has gained praise for her composing skills. She enjoys composing for various different line ups, and focuses on the individualities of the musicians she’s composing for at the moment. Today, Elin finds herself standing somewhere in between jazz, free jazz and free impro. Her curiosity and love for the art of improvisation keeps bringing her to new places and faces.
Selected albums :
– Live And Alive (Playing With Music 2009) – Exit //FIRE! Orchestra (Rune Grammofon 2013) – Anna Högberg Attack (Omlott 2016) – Unaccustomed Soil //SOL SOL (Signal And Sound 2019) – OYA Sextet (Signal And Sound 2019) – Elin Forkelid Plays For Trane (Sail Cabin Records 2020) – Lena //Anna Högberg Attack (Omlott 2020) – Can’t Hide //Forkelid-Carlsson-Hielm (Frim Records 2021) – What Year Is It? //SOL SOL (Sail Cabin Records 2022) – Vilhelm Bromander’s Unfolding Orchestra (Thanatosis 2023) – Almost All Things Considered //SOL SOL (Sail Cabin Records 2024)
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ELIN FORKELID – Songs to Keep You Company on a Dark Night
formats: LP / CD / DL
label: SAIL CABIN RECORDS
release date: November 15th 2024
cat. no:. SCRCD/LP004
The album includes the singles Landslide and Revisiting
Tracklist:
1 A1 Music For Four 9:27 (Forkelid)
2 A2 Landslide 4:06 (Stevie Nicks)
3 A3 Ytterligheter 4:51 (Forkelid)
4 A4 Anemoia 7:48 (Forkelid)
5 B1 Introducing 8:01 (Forkelid)
6 B2 Revisiting 6:03 (Forkelid)
7 B3 Ida Lupino 6:15 (Carla Bley)
Line up:
Elin Forkelid– saxophones, composition
Tobias Wiklund– cornet, trumpet
David Stackenäs– guitar
Mats Dimming– double bass