Yelena Eckemoff is an internationally renowned Russian-born pianist, composer, poet, and visual artist who organically blends classical elements with jazz improvisation in evocative and uniquely distinctive works that strike a delicate balance between through-composed frameworks and open-ended exploration and improvisation. In 1991 Yelena emigrated to the United States. She recorded her first jazz album, COLD SUN, in 2009, accompanied by drummer Peter Erskine and Danish bassist Mads Vinding. This proved to be a major turning point in her jazz career. Chosen as one of the finest recordings of the year, reviews of the recording compared it favorably with the gold standard: ECM's many recordings of piano trios. From that point on, Eckemoff churned out compelling and focused jazz albums at an astounding pace; she has managed to build, over just 10 years, a mammoth 15 critically acclaimed releases with the top jazzmen of USA and Europe. Eckemoff brought back Erskine and Andersen for 2018's Desert, along with reed and woodwind master Paul McCandless from the band Oregon. The set offered a rare example of the balance between intellectual complexity and emotional immediacy. Upon its release, the album was chosen by Germany's state radio station NDR as a jazz album of the week. Her 2020 release, Nocturnal Animals, happened to be the last recording session for legendary drummer Jon Christensen and sound engineer Jan Erik Kongshaug. www.yelenamusic.com