Nanna Carling’s Melodies For Two, released on February 14, 2025, is a romantic collection of her original compositions. Coming from the Carling family of Swedish jazz royalty, Nanna builds on her 2022 debut, That’s a Plenty, to deliver an album that bridges her trad jazz roots with a more timeless, classic sound. Her new album showcases her evolution as a vocalist, composer, and soprano saxophonist and represents her breakthrough onto the world stage. Melodies For Two will appeal to both traditional jazz aficionados and a broader jazz audience, and as always it thrills me to say that.
Nanna Carling, born in 1997 in Malmö, Sweden, carries on the legacy of her large family, including her aunt Gunhild Carling, a multi-instrumentalist known worldwide, and her grandparents Hans (trumpet) and Aina (violin, banjo). She has worked with three of her sisters since they were teenagers, though they only began performing as “The Carling Sisters” in 2022, quickly finding acclaim on Swedish television and at festivals across Europe. The quartet was referred to as “The Spice Girls of Trad Jazz” by one creative reviewer.
Her path to a solo career has been remarkably diverse, studying music in South Korea, living and playing in New York, and even working in a circus. She has performed 200 shows as a leader of her own band in just the last two years, including Birdland, the Tel Aviv Opera
