YELENA ECKEMOFF: Rosendals Garden Album By Jazz/Prog Pianist/Composer, Recorded At Benny Anderson Of ABBAâs Studio, Out Today; New Painting Videos, And More Posted

photos by Harry Eckemoff

Rosendals Garden, the lush twenty-third album since 2010 by prolific pianist and composer YELENA ECKEMOFF, is out today and streaming everywhere on her own L&H Production.

YELENA ECKEMOFF was born in Moscow, Russia, in the former Soviet Union. She showed early talent at the piano and began studying at an early age with her mother, Olga, a professional pianist and teacher. At seven, she attended Gnessin State Musical College, a school for musically gifted children, and furthered her education in classical piano at Moscow State Conservatory. After graduating, she began concertizing, studying jazz, composing music for several instruments, playing in a jazz-rock band, and teaching piano. After moving to the U.S. in her late-20s, she began her recording career, working across several genres such as classical, vocal, folk, Christian, and jazz. Since then, ECKEMOFF has released nearly two-dozen albums, received critical acclaim in the jazz and prog press, and forged her own unique sound as a chamber-setting composer and improvisational pianist.

YELENA ECKEMOFF is known for her richly imaginative jazz storytelling, which is illuminated on Rosendals Garden, her twenty-third album since 2010. Recorded at RMV Studio, owned by ABBAâs Benny Anderson, the album is a tribute to Swedenâs natural beauty, history, and quiet magic. The eleven-song Rosendals Garden adds to her impressive collection of compositions that integrates sophisticated jazz improvisation with a deep, personal narrative. Each composition on the album functions as a standalone short story, yet together these tunes form a sweeping suite of emotional and cultural exploration.

Rosendals Garden was recorded with some of the countryâs most prominent musicians â Svante Henryson providing cello and double and electrical basses and Morgan Ãgren (Karmakanic, ex-Devin Townend-live, ex-Magma-live) performing all drums and percussion â with YELENA ECKEMOFF writing all compositions and arrangements and performing all piano and keys.

Throughout this kaleidoscope of an album, YELENA ECKEMOFF remains masterfully in charge â always the consummate composer, instrumentalist, and bandleader. She continues to assert what a jazz album can be â not just a collection of ear-pleasing tunes, but a deeply felt experience transformed into pure sound. Rosendals Garden captures more than just picturesque scenery; It immerses listeners in the composerâs inner experiences, emotional impressions, and wide-eyed awe before the natural world, symbolized by the verdant sanctuary by the same name.

Rosendals Garden was recorded on August 28th and 29th, 2024 at RMV Studio in Stockholm, Sweden â owned by Benny Anderson of ABBA â tracked by engineer Linn Fijal, and was mastered by Stefano Amerio. Like all her records, the cover art for the album was painted by YELENA ECKEMOFF herself, and several new videos of her painting new art for each song have been posted today with the recordâs release.

**Stream YELENA ECKEMOFFâs Rosendals Garden everywhere HERE and watch multiple performance and art videos on YouTube HERE**.

Rosendals Garden is now available digitally and on digipak CD through ECKEMOFFâs L&H Production HERE and all digital services HERE.

“…a seamless tonic tapestry… What distinguishes Rosendals Garden is its ability to be both accessible and intellectually engaging. ECKEMOFF is known for bringing a tonal richness and a classic improvisational style to all of her compositions set for piano trio, and this record is no exception.â â Downbeat

âThis is not a traditional jazz piano trio as Svante Henryson plays both bass and cello … one supercharged with shamefully abundant talent, vision and a twenty-first century zeitgeist. Eckemoff has a solid sight on the horizon, composing music with this rhythm section in mind.â â Wild Mercury Rhythm

“…Rosendals Garden does more than add another entry to an already substantial discography. It reframes ECKEMOFFâs artistic identity. The album suggests a composer increasingly comfortable with restraint, willing to let atmosphere carry meaning, confident enough to allow silence equal weight with sound… in a cultural moment saturated with urgency and noise, ECKEMOFF offers something rarer, attentiveness. She invites the listener to sit, to observe, to linger. Like a Scandinavian summer evening, the music does not demand attention. It earns it.” â Paris Move

“From peaceful elegance to mist-shrouded gloom, each piece reflects the most varied facets of the Swedish landscape and culture. Once again, Yelena knows how to enchant–and once again, her release comes highly recommended to every fan of modern jazz. Outstanding!” â Er-em-onine.deÂ

“What makes this album special is the natural way in which composed passages and free improvisation blend seamlessly. It’s rare to hear where one ends and the other begins. This is where the quality of this trio shines through. YELENA ECKEMOFF gives space without losing control. The result is an album that lingers in the listener’s mind. No cheap tricks here, but music that reveals itself further with each listen. YELENA ECKEMOFF demonstrates once again that artistic independence is not a concept, but an artistic conviction cultivated over years.” â Saiten Kult

“Yelena is intent to communicate on a subjective, soul-stirring level. Her music is a shining example of substance over style. It is not merely about presenting images but enkindling entire worlds, making them feel as tangible and immersive as possible. Her deep well of imagination and keen sensitivity to her environment at any given moment manifest in the early autumn sensations on Rosendals Garden, the feeling of the air changing as summer ends and the wind starts to grow slightly colder. You feel the chill in the air, the wind blowing leaves that turn red, yellow, and brown as nature prepares for its end-of-the-year slumber. These layers create a realistic tapestry that immerses you in the sensation of autumnâs arrival, making you feel its presence around you in every place you visit through this album.” â Asphyxium Zine