Emilia Martensson Featuring Kit Downes & Chris Montague **parliamentary Jazz Awards Vocalist Of The Year 2016** at 606 Club

Emilia first came to the attention of jazz listeners with her guest appearance on the MOBO Award-winning Kairos Quartet’s debut album, and her spellbinding vocals have been causing a stir ever since. Combining the influence of folk music from her native Sweden with some of the greatest songs of the twentieth century, her gigs feature a diverse range of material, from Swedish traditional music to Schumann compositions, Nat King Cole to James Taylor, all delivered in her beautiful, original vocal style. She launched her wonderful debut album at the Club to great critical acclaim, and her second album "Ana" was received with equal fervour. In 2015, Emilia was chosen to participate in ‘The Take Five’ Artist Programme delivered by national music producers Serious, and was awarded funding by the PRS Foundation’s ‘Women Make Music’ initiative. In 2016, she received the Parliamentary Jazz Award for “Vocalist of the Year”, an accolade richly deserved and an affirmation of her enormous talent. Tonight Emilia will be bringing to the Club her latest fascinating project that features Mercury Music Prize nominee Kit Downes on piano and the wonderful Chris Montague on guitar (both of whom are also members of the celebrated jazz trio Troyka, named one of the “Top Ten Live Acts in London” by Time Out Magazine). Expect a terrific mix of Swedish folk songs, gentle originals, popular songs and classic jazz standards, all arranged in a an intricate but highly accessible setting to highlight not only Emilia’s beautiful, soaring vocals, but also the impressive improvisations of the band together with sensitive and thoughtful arrangements. I consider Emilia to be one of the finest singers of her generation. Highly recommended....

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Emilia first came to the attention of jazz listeners with her guest appearance on the MOBO Award-winning Kairos Quartet’s debut album, and her spellbinding vocals have been causing a stir ever since. Combining the influence of folk music from her native Sweden with some of the greatest songs of the twentieth century, her gigs feature a diverse range of material, from Swedish traditional music to Schumann compositions, Nat King Cole to James Taylor, all delivered in her beautiful, original vocal style. She launched her wonderful debut album at the Club to great critical acclaim, and her second album "Ana" was received with equal fervour. In 2015, Emilia was chosen to participate in ‘The Take Five’ Artist Programme delivered by national music producers Serious, and was awarded funding by the PRS Foundation’s ‘Women Make Music’ initiative. In 2016, she received the Parliamentary Jazz Award for “Vocalist of the Year”, an accolade richly deserved and an affirmation of her enormous talent. Tonight Emilia will be bringing to the Club her latest fascinating project that features Mercury Music Prize nominee Kit Downes on piano and the wonderful Chris Montague on guitar (both of whom are also members of the celebrated jazz trio Troyka, named one of the “Top Ten Live Acts in London” by Time Out Magazine). Expect a terrific mix of Swedish folk songs, gentle originals, popular songs and classic jazz standards, all arranged in a an intricate but highly accessible setting to highlight not only Emilia’s beautiful, soaring vocals, but also the impressive improvisations of the band together with sensitive and thoughtful arrangements. I consider Emilia to be one of the finest singers of her generation. Highly recommended.

“ethereal voiced Swedish singer Martensson effortlessly mixes delicate folkish melodies with swoonsome jazz lines to create her own bewitching sound” Time Out; “A voice of quite remarkable expressive depth” Jazzwise; "Martensson invests every sound with a skimming, rapturous lightness and clarity" Guardian; "The music is immediately enchanting, bewitching, and approachable" AllAboutJazz

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