Hope Ingi Bjarni

• 1 Hope 07:12
• 2 Uplift 04:25
• 3 Chant 06:37
• 4 Eftir allt 04:57
• 5 Hægur dans 04:38
• 6 April Dreams 06:24
• 7 Continuation 06:15
• 8 Desember 06:01
• 9 Escaped 06:04
• Total Runtime 52:33

Info zu Hope

As I sat down to write these liner notes, I looked at the song list of the album. I noticed that seven out of the nine pieces were written in 2021, the year my mother passed away. After some reflection, I realized that these pieces are, in one way or another, connected to the process of grieving my mother. This was not something I intentionally planned when selecting compositions for this project, or even when I was composing the pieces. I was just focused on the music, not necessarily on how it came about. So this realization is a bit special to me. Recently, I have indeed noticed that my subconscious plays a big role in my life. In my music making I let my intuition lead the way.

My mother was quite poetic and often published parts of her unreleased poems on social media. In one of her poems, she wrote (translated from Icelandic to English): “Is life always a gentle waltz, with a clear path and no troubles ahead? The winter of life may indeed be long and hard. But my dear friend, you can do better. With hope in your heart, you are capable of everything.” It is my wish to express a feeling of hope with this music—hope for peace, hope for closure, and hope for happiness. So Hope is the most appropriate title for the album.

The album starts with the spacious title track, Hope, with a beautiful bass intro by Anders Jormin, where he hints at the bass melody of the song. Uplift is also a song connected to the theme of hope, an uplifting tune that changes between the meters of 11/8 and 6/4 with a strong, yet subtle, melody inspired by folk music. The third piece, the highly lyrical Chant, starts with an improvised piano intro. Then the singable melody starts. This is truly a piece that could be sung, even without lyrics. Singing has a healing power so perhaps this is a chant for healing.

Eftir allt was written during an artist’s residency at the historic Hólar Cathedral in Iceland in the summer of 2021. The title translates to “after everything.” This is the only song I have written inside a church, which seems fitting for this album since my mother was very religious. The slow dance, Hægur dans, is written with a specific drum beat in mind for Magnús Trygvason Eliassen to explore. But later, the beat goes astray, and collective improvisations take over. Once, I improvised a piano piece daily for a whole month and shared on YouTube. April Dreams is a dreamy blues from one of these improvisations. It has a peculiar melody based on intervals. The song features great soloing by both Hilmar Jensson and Anders Jormin.

Life continues even though there are bumps along the way. Continuation explores sweet folk music melodies but spices them up with expressive free improvisation. Desember is a song written in December, but it is definitely not a Christmas song! Desember symbolizes the end of the year and is about accepting how things are. To leave things on a slightly more energetic note, the album ends with Escaped. I chose that name because one morning I felt an overwhelming urge to create, as if the music needed to escape from within me. (Ingi Bjarni Skúlason)

"The four played as one, as if they had played together for years. This was brilliant! Bottom line: Inspired compositions and performance.” (Jónas Sen)

Ingi Bjarni, piano
Anders Jormin, bass
Hilmar Jensson, guitar
Magnús Trygvason Eliassen, drums

Ingi Bjarni Skúlason
Icelandic artist Ingi Bjarni, whose full name is Ingi Bjarni Skúlason, is an improvising pianist and composer, crafting enchanting tones and poetic melodies. In short, he creates his own kind of folk music with the freedom of expressiveness and space for both lyrical and free improvisation.

Ingi Bjarni is praised for his unique sound and innovative approach to improvisation, which is considered rare in the current music landscape. As Jazz Journal (UK) notes, “this intriguingly gifted pianist has for some time now shown an impressive ability to shape his own world, his own poetics.” His compositions feature a strongly narrative style that reflects the individuality of his musical units, enabling him to tell stories through music. In the Spring of 2020, he received five nominations for the Icelandic Music Awards for his quintet recording Tenging, and he was awarded as the most promising Icelandic jazz artist.

Ingi Bjarni attained a Bachelor’s degree in Jazz Performance at Den Haag, The Netherlands. From there, he went on to achieve a Master’s degree in composition from the University of Gothenburg, with exchange semesters in Copenhagen and Oslo. Tutors and mentors have included Misha Alperin, Anders Jormin, Helge Lien, Aaron Parks, Eyolf Dale, Eric Gieben, Agnar Már Magnússon, and Helge Sunde; and as a bandleader, Ingi Bjarni has performed at jazz festivals in Bremen (jazzahead), Hamburg (Elbjazz), Lillehammer, Vilnius, Copenhagen, Reykjavík, and the Faroe Islands. Furthermore, he has toured Japan, Germany, The Netherlands, Iceland, the U.K. and more.

Dieses Album enthält kein Booklet