Lina Nyberg is not the kind of jazz vocalist who simply decorates a song. She builds a world around it. For audiophiles, that is exactly the attraction: her recordings reward close listening, with a voice that moves between intimacy, experiment, lyric detail and chamber-jazz sophistication. Her music often leaves enough air around the musicians for the listener to hear the shape of the room, the phrasing of the ensemble and the quiet tension between composition and improvisation.
Her official site describes her as one of Sweden’s most creative and innovative jazz singers and contemporary composers, with a career that has attracted attention in Scandinavia and internationally. It also notes that her debut album Close, recorded with pianist Esbjörn Svensson, became an instant success and a Swedish jazz classic.
For hi-fi listening, start with “Close,” “Here, There and Everywhere,” “The Clouds,” “Fly Me to the Moon,” “A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square,” “Skylark,” “Lonely House,” “Love In the Air,” “Night and Day,” and “Dream a Little Dream of Me.” Deezer’s catalogue shows her range across albums such as The Clouds, Terrestrial, Aerials, The Sirenades, Brasil Big Bom, Brasilien, Smile and Time, while Apple Music lists songs including “Close” and “Here, There and Everywhere” among her popular tracks.
Qobuz also makes her catalogue interesting for audiophile listeners: Lonely House is listed as vocal jazz and available in 24-bit/44.1 kHz stereo, while Qobuz’s Lina Nyberg Quintet page lists When the Smile Shines Through in lossless quality.
Short biography
Lina Nyberg is a Swedish jazz singer, composer and bandleader, born in Stockholm in 1970. She studied at the Royal College of Music in Stockholm and released her first album, Close, in 1993 with pianist Esbjörn Svensson. Over the years she has developed from a celebrated vocal-jazz interpreter into one of Scandinavia’s most distinctive composer-performers.
Her music moves through vocal jazz, Nordic jazz, contemporary jazz, chamber jazz, big-band writing, orchestral composition and experimental song. Important albums include Close, When the Smile Shines Through, Time, Brasil Big Bom, The Sirenades, Aerials, Terrestrial, The Clouds, The Night and the Music, The World’s a Stage and Lost in the Stars. Her website lists Lost in the Stars as her 24th album, released with pianist Daniel Karlsson as a tribute to Kurt Weill.
She is known for combining a singer’s sensitivity with a composer’s architectural imagination. Her work includes commissions for big band, string quartet, chamber settings and symphony orchestra, and she has received major Swedish jazz recognition including the Lars Gullin Prize, the Swedish Royal Academy of Music Jazz Prize, a Swedish Grammy and the Gyllene Skivan award.
