Torbjörn Righard ”Leaving Elm Street”

Leaving Elm Street is Torbjörn Righard’s second album in his own name and is a follow-up to The Silent Room, which was released in 2012. All music is written by Torbjörn Righard. A third production in the same series is planned.

Some questions for Torbjörn about the album: 
Why is it called Leaving Elm Street? 
The title is multi-layered. It is about elm trees; the grand trees that were common in the south of Sweden where I live, but have now disappeared due to the Dutch elm disease. For me, my memories of them to me symbolize the themes of change and loss that are represented in the album. It also refers to my first address, which was on Elm Street. And it’s about something else still; something not so easily captured and described… 
And the rooks on the cover? 
My brother Orion Righard painted them. They connect to the music and the themes of the record. They are like elm trees; beautiful in a rough sort of way. 
What are the similarities and differences compared to your last album, The Silent Room? 
Musically, there are touch points. And the band is the same quartet, with certain additions for each song. On this album, however, I cooperated with Thomas Tidholm – since many years one of my favourite poets – for the first time. I’ve previously worked with Tina Quartey and Anna Elwing in the group Alwa, and Svante Lodén was a member of Agurk Players. These are dear reunions. New on this record is singer Almaz Yebio, Ola Åkerman and Björn Edqvist on wind instruments, and Magnus Nörrenberg who played an important role both as a sound mixer and musician.  

credits

releases November 1, 2017 

Torbjörn Righard: Saxophone and vocals 
Johan Ohlsson: Piano, Accordeon & Organ 
Mats Ingvarsson: Basses and a little guitar 
Bo Håkansson: Drums & Percussion 
Svante Lodén: Guitars 
Tina Quartey: Percussion 
Björn Edqvist: Trumpet 
Ola Åkerman: Trombone 
Magnus Nörrenberg: Organ and String Machine 
Anna Elwing: Vocals on ”Stay” and Violin 
Almaz Yebio: Vocals on ”A Treasure in the Living Room” 
Thomas Tidholm reads his own poem on ”Here not Here – inte Fåglarna”