ABOUT

Photography by Art Bicnick

Bassplayer and composer INGIBJÖRG TURCHI has been a mainstay in the Icelandic music scene for over a decade. She has played with many of the nation's most beloved artists in all genres, both in concerts and on recordings. Ingibjörg ́s collaborations include: Emiliana Torrini, Bubbi Morthens, Stuðmenn, Teitur Magnússon, Soffía Björg, Ylja, Hróðmar Sigurðsson, Byzantine Silhouette, Mikael Máni and many more. She has also worked in theatre and art exhibitions, including Ragnar Kjartansson ́s Woman in E and played in the houseband in the Icelandic Idol seasons.

Ingibjörg's work, Anemos, was premiered by the Iceland Symphony Orchestra on behalf of Ung-Yrkja in April 2021 and she composed a piece for The Reykjavik Big Band in 2024. Since 2017, Ingibjörg has performed regularly under her own name with her band. She has released two solo albums, Wood / work (2017), where the electric bass was in the foreground and Meliae (2020) where she continued to expand her sound with the help of her band. The album combines jazz, experimental music and minimalism in an untranslated mix. Repetition is paramount. Instruments such as saxophone, guitar and bass are deconstructed with the help of electronic devices and then rebuilt. In this way, Ingibjörg and her band create a unique and mesmerizing sound.

Meliae won the Kraumur Prize and was chosen album of the year by Morgunblaðið (a local newspaper) and straum.is, all in 2020. At the Icelandic Music Awards of 2021 Meliae received an award as the Album of the Year in the Jazz and Blues category and for Sound Production of the Year. Meliae was also nominated for the Hyundai Nordic Music Prize in 2021. The band was also chosen to represent Iceland at Nordic Jazz Comets 2020 and subsequently on a tour of Finland in September 2021.

Ingibjörg released her third solo album in 2023, Stropha. The music has influences from various sources as on her other albums. Jazz, experimental music, minimalism, rock and more are mixed in the soundscape that Ingibjörg and her band have developed in recent years. It got a nomination at The Icelandic Music Awards 2024 for Sound Engineering of the Year and got very good reviews. Ingibjörg and her band will play at the 12 points showcase festival in Tampere coming September.