Elsa Nilsson

Born: February 16, 1987

For the past decade, flutist, composer and band leader Elsa Nilsson has explored unlikely connections among tendencies of human nature, contradiction and pluralism and the natural world. A conceptualist from every angle, the Gothenburg native left Sweden for Seattle in 2005 before settling in Brooklyn in 2010. Her breadth of work engages urgency, high-level improvising and layered, cinematic orchestration; her artistry, an earnest and actionable desire to collaborate with multimodal artists and the changing world around her.

A lifelong scholar, Elsa approaches each new project with curiosity and inquiry. She allows kernels of an idea to alter and develop her perspective. Her openness and refinement have prompted collaboration — often leading to recordings — with a roster of visionaries, including Jon Cowherd, Chris Morrissey, Karl Berger, Robert Dick, Jamie Baum, Jessica Lurie, Rodrigo Recabarren, Marty Kenney, Santiago Leibson, Mark Ferber, Sebastian Noelle, Tina Raymond, Emma Dayhuff, the CMS improvisers Orchestra, Vinny Golia, Brad Shepik, Jovino Santos Neto, Chuck Deardorf, Jim Knapp and Bill Frisell through the CMA Performance Plus grant with Dawn Clement. Listeners gravitate to Elsa’s sound for its truthful searching, moment to moment, within its athleticism and lyrical pulse. She has appeared across the U.S. and internationally at Nefertiti Jazz Club and Victoriateatern (Sweden), Winter Jazzfest, Earshot Jazz Festival, Recoleta International Jazz Festival, Mount Hood Jazz Festival, Aarhus Jazz Festival, Nublu Jazz Festival, National Sawdust, Blue Note Jazz Club, Cornelia Street Cafe, 55 Bar, Bar Bayeux, The Owl Music Parlor, Shapeshifter Lab, Roulette, Rockwood Music Hall, The Jazz Loft, The Nash (Arizona), Constellations (Chicago), Cliff Bell’s (Detroit), Cafe Coda (Wisconsin),  The Blue Room (Kansas City, Missouri), The Black Cat (San Francisco) and Libretto (California). 

Sound & Fury

By The Esthesis Quartet

Label: Sunnyside Records
Released: 2025
Track listing: Where I Begin; Togheter; Fit of Fury; Is There a Message; Just Come Play; Capricorn; Ace of Pentacles.

Jamie Baum: These Are Her Times

by Dean Nardi
August 25, 2025

Jamie Baum is a world-class composer as well as flutist, who smoothly balances woodwinds with horns, guitar, bass, piano and drums so that they are equals. Her compositions can remind you of a Gil Evans arrangement with several decades of development added to create a thoroughly modern milieu. She mixes high-energy with ballads and Western foundations ...

Esthesis Quartet: Sound & Fury

by Vincenzo Roggero
July 16, 2025

Sound & Fury �� legato a doppio filo a due eventi ravvicinati nel tempo. Da una parte il periodo pandemico nel quale i futuri membri del quartetto condividono via Zoom esperienze, motivazioni, obiettivi che porteranno alla formazione ufficiale del gruppo denominato Esthesis. Dall'altra la prematura scomparsa nel marzo 2022 di Ron Miles, mentore di due componenti ...

Sabeth P��rez, Elsa Nilsson, Scandinavian Art Ensemble, Tomasz Sta��ko & More

by Ludovico Granvassu
June 8, 2025

The stirring new album by Sabeth Perez, the versatility of Elsa Nilsson, jazz for social justice, a stunning debut album and a much-rumored lost recording featuring Tomasz Sta��ko make up this playlist of compelling new releases. Happy listening! Playlist Ben Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 ...

New Releases By Cynthia Sayer, Fred Hersch & Rondi Charleston, Sullivan Fortner, Celebrating Nina Simone & More

by Mary Foster Conklin
February 24, 2025

This broadcast includes new releases from Cynthia Sayer, Fred Hersch & Rondi Charleston and Sullivan Fortner, with birthday shoutouts to Nina Simone, Nicole Mitchell, Sharel Cassity, Elsa Nilsson, lyricist Shelley Nyman and Dena DeRose. Happy listening and please support the artists you hear. See them live, purchase their music so they can continue to distract, comfort, ...

I Dischi del 2024 secondo Ludovico Granvassu

by Ludovico Granvassu
January 2, 2025

Spesso molti articoli sulle “migliori uscite dell'anno" iniziano con una premessa quasi apologetica ("questi non sono necessariamente 'i migliori album dell'anno,' ma 'i miei preferiti';" “�� tutto soggettivo;" “domani avrei scelto titoli diversi;" “ho potuto selezionare solo dieci album," ecc.)? Queste dichiarazioni sembrano riflettere il disagio del redattore, costretto a riassumere un vasto ecosistema artistico selezionando ...

Ludovico Granvassu's Garden of Jazzy Delights 2024

by Ludovico Granvassu
December 31, 2024

Have you noticed how many “best of the year" listicles start with an apologetic preamble ("these are not necessarily 'the best albums of the year' but 'my favorites';" “it's all subjective;" “tomorrow I might have chosen different titles;" “I could only select ten albums" etc.)? Those disclaimers channel the writer's discomfort of having to summarize a ...

Happy New Year! New music from Jeff Parker and IVtet, Sara Serpa, Miguel Zenon, Camilla Battaglia and Daryll Yokley's Sound Reformation.

by Hobart Taylor
December 31, 2024

Starting out the year with our usual variety of musics that appeal to both the head and the heart: Listen up for the brilliance of Satoko Fujii, the subtle passion of Jessica and Tony Jones, the earnestness of Sara Serpa, and the commitment to human well being reflected in the music of Miguel Zenon.

Atlas Of Sound - Quila Quina

By Elsa Nilsson

Label: ears&eyes Records
Released: 2024
Track listing: The Wind From The North Comes From The West; Neneo, Charcao, Chacay; Waters Cold And Deep; Tren Tren, Abanico, Vizcacha; Cipr��s, Roble Pell��n, ?ire; Radal; Maiten/Michay; Chin Chin/Puelche.