Jóel Pálsson (composer) & Kjartan Valdemarsson (arranger)

Jóel Pálsson & Kjartan Valdemarsson
Photographer
Norden.org
Nominated for the work “Innri”

Jóel Pálsson’s music mirrors his diversity as a performer, combining improvisation with written parts influenced by a variety of musical styles such as church music, rock, free improvisation, funk and folk music. He has been awarded “Jazz album of the year” five times in Iceland and was nominated for the Nordic Council Music Prize in 2011 as a performer. His approach to writing Jazz is creative and powerful, leaving us with music that is unusual and highly memorable.

Kjartan Valdemarsson, a pianist and arranger in high demand, also composes music. He won the Icelandic Music Award for best composition in the jazz category in 2011.

Pálsson and Valdemarsson, both graduates of the Berklee College of Music in Boston, are renowned jazz musicians both in Iceland and abroad. They have worked with musicians from all over the world and played on festivals throughout the continents.  This production highlights the multi-cultural reflections in Pálsson’s work in combination with the traditional sound of big band music, a combination which gives the music a fresh, broader relevance along with a very personal twist.