“A new sound, a new day and a new voice in the realm of modern jazz … Larsson is a gifted singer/songwriter that can hold her own with any of the major label talent working today.” (Brent Black, Critical Jazz, Five stars) When Swedish-born Emma Larsson first hit the New York scene (via Finland and South Africa) in 2010, she arrived with two critically acclaimed albums Irie Butterflies (Imogena Records, 2006) and Let It Go (Imogena Records, 2010) already under her belt. Her debut, which the precocious talent had recorded while still a student at Finland’s prestigious Sibelius Academy, garnered her a record deal with Imogena Records, along with distribution in Europe and Japan, where she was welcomed as a “promising singer and composer” (Lira, Sweden) with “extraordinary vocal skills.” (Jazz Life, Japan) In the US, Critical Jazz praised her as a musician with “the seasoning and character of a veteran twice her age … and a flair and panache rarely heard on a debut release.” Her sophomore outing, Let It Go (Imogena Records, 2010), co-produced with Kenny Garrett alum pianist Benito Gonzalez, and recorded with Gonzalez, Finnish musicians Joonathan Rautio (saxophone) and Jukkis Uuotila (drums), and fellow Swede Christian Spering (bass), raised the stakes considerably. A collection of vivid, self-penned originals and one non-original – a nervy, Coltrane-esque rendition of Mongo Santamaria’s ‘Afro Blue’ – it won praise not only for her singing and arranging but also her composing. “Vocalists who compose their own music are a breakthrough possibility, but only if they are competent songwriters,’ wrote Michael C. Bailey, praising Larsson’s composing style as rooted “firmly in the John Coltrane spiritual realm, teeming with complex time signatures and flowing, almost free form, vocal lines.” (AllAboutJazz) Brent Black wrote: “Larsson's ability as a lyricist is on par with her vocal prowess as she pushes the vocal boundaries of modern jazz to a free form and functionality of shifting meters and changing harmonics, with an elegance and subtle swing missing from the more contemporary mass appeal vocal efforts clearly drawn up in the major label board room.” With a vocal sound that has been likened to 80s pop diva, Sade, and a predilection for Betty Carter-esque jazz phrasing, Larsson is reluctant to compare herself to other vocalists, but cites Carter as a major influence on her arranging and composing “… in how she uses accents and tempos to bring out the story.“ Other influences include Wayne Shorter, Shirley Horn, McCoy

Tyner, Herbie Hancock and Billy Harper. (Larsson is part of his Speak To Me Of Love, Speak To Me Of Truth – a live concert, featuring his septet with 60 voices, which was recorded at St. Peter’s Church, New York, in December 2012). Growing up in the small town of Uppsala, Sweden, Larsson heard a wide range of music as a child, from pop to jazz to classical, and right out of high school jumped at the opportunity to study classical piano at the Janáček Conservatory in the Czech Republic. And it was here, ironically, that she fell in love with jazz. “I got my first gig singing with a trio at a local jazz club, and that was it,” says Larsson, who immediately loved the freedom of improvisation. “Later, when I did my undergrad back in Sweden, I decided to focus on jazz.” Now based in New York (where she has performed at the Iridium, Zinc Bar, The Bar Next Door, Kitano, St Peter's Church and Smalls) Larsson has come a long way (literally and figuratively) since then. Her upcoming release Sing To The Sky, made with first-call musicians Shedrick Mitchell (piano), Eric Revis (bass), Kenneth Whalum III (saxophone) and Billy Drummond (drums), might be her best work yet. “I think this particular combination of guys really worked well together in terms of chemistry,” she says. And chemistry in jazz (which is all about relationships and communicating in the moment), is the difference between good and great.