Pianist and composer Yelena Eckemoff started his career as a classical pianist in Russia. She developed her talent to also include working with jazz and rock, and did several years concerts of classical, modern jazz and rock.She left Russia in 1991 and settled in the United States, where she began a career as an independent artist. Over the years, she has made numerous recordings with his own music company I & H Production.
In recent years she has developed a partnership with several Nordic musicians, and on her last three record productions, which we have received, we hear her with Mats Eilertsen (b) and Marilyn Mazur (Dr. , perc) on “Forget-me-Net”, Mads Vinding (b) and Morten Lund (dr) on “Grass Catching the Wind” and her latest, as we are dealing here with Tore Brunborg (s), Arild Andersen (b) and Jon Christensen (dr) on “EverBlue”.
When one hears Eckemoffs compositions and projections on the piano, then we can understand why she has moved to Scandinavia. Her game and thought patterns are very Scandinavian. She writes extremely lyrical melodies, and interaction with Brunborg, Andersen and Christensen is the optimum for her music.
Brunborg is a born poet on saxophone, bass Andersens there is no other that copies and back, Christensen, with its extremely special and distinctive drumming.
These are three responsive gentlemen, quite naturally slip into her music (or is it possibly vice versa), and the whole thing can be perceived as extremely Nordic.
We get ten fine, lyrical songs, where everything, except for Andersen’s “Prism” is written by the conductor. She has a fine technique, and is not far from Bobo Stenson in the expression.
The disc was recorded in Rainbow Studio in Oslo with magician Jan Erik Kongshaug at the controls. And when we know that the mood and sound being the best.
“EverBlue” has become a beautiful recording, which should open up a number of gigs for Yelena Eckemoff in Scandinavia and Europe, for this is music that the European audience loves.