Luxury Experience - Ell and Hart

As way of background information for our readers, Jade Ell is an award-winning singer, songwriter, composer, and musician who has made her musical mark not only in Sweden, but as an international talent as well. Her many accolades include awards from STIM (The Swedish Performing Right's Society), and SKAP (The Swedish Society of Songwriters, Composers, and Authors). An acclaimed songwriter, she has contributed to albums that have sold over 5 million albums worldwide, and her songs have been recorded by many international artists including RBD (Rebelde), which hit the #1 spot on Billboard Top Latin Album Charts.

Singer, saxophonist Sheona Urquhart developed her talent as a precocious musician playing Jazz clubs in her native Australia while still in school. Her prowess has led to an encompassing musical career that has taken her around the world singing on cruise ships, was the founding member of "Ginger and Tonic" a female a cappella quartet, with whom she released two albums, and she has appeared on radio programs, and on television on an Australian "soap opera."

Jade, we first heard you play in Stockholm over 13 years ago, were blown away by your talent, and have been following your career ever since. As always, you keep surprising us in a good way as your music ever evolves as seen from your previous releases, which we have reviewed. (Music Scene: Tiny Tornado - Echoes and Rhymes, Mourning This Morning, Jade Ell - Methods).

Jade, Thanks for introducing us to Sheona.

Sheona, it's a pleasure to meet you. Originally from Melbourne, Australia, how did you come to live and play in Stockholm?

I'm a "love refugee;" I used to live in London, traveled to Sweden, and met a Swedish guy on what was to be my last night in Stockholm, and I stayed.

Jade, you come from a Pop/Rock background, and Sheona, you come from a Jazz/Blues background. How did the two of you meet and decide to play together?

JE/SU

We met through a mutual friend, another Aussie, as there's a large Australian community here. We first played together at a festival in September 2016 after having very little time to rehearse, about 2 hours, and we liked how we sounded together. Since then, we have been performing gigs around Stockholm together, and we do backing vocals, and Sheona plays sax for Nad Sylvan, who is currently touring with Steve Hackett's band (the guitarist of Genesis).

We absolutely love the new singles; Hotel of Hearts, which you co-wrote the lyrics with the Irish poet John B. McQuaid, is gorgeous with its opening instrumental and the way your voices blend so perfectly, and we also love Hushabye Mountain, both of which are the perfect introduction to Ell & Hart.

Listen to their Hotel of Hearts: https://open.spotify.com/album/7HM8FNMssapjfwxVo0jfvB

What can you tell us about the focus of your music?

JE/SU

The theme is our voices together for a timeless, modern touch with blended harmonies. We see our voices celebrated, not as backing vocals but as a blended voice, and a melding of piano and sax. We want to do things together to create a new sound, and a meaningful solid live act. We want what you hear on the single to be absolutely what you hear live, a mixture of sax, piano, voices, and tambourine.

Jade, how is it to perform with a sax player?

My first mentor told me that my voice was like an alto sax, so I love it.

Sheona, what's it like to play with Jade?

Great!

Jade, you have great story telling lyrics and we always love hearing your stories, letting the the next episode, the next chapter enfold. Are you working on a new album now?

I'm always writing constantly, and we are collecting songs, but for now we just wanted to release the two singles.

Jade, Sheona, congratulations on your new singles. We look forward to hearing more from Ell & Hart. Thanks for taking time to speak with Luxury Experience. Keep enjoying the music!