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<\/p>\nSALT LAKE CITY \u2014 This rising Christian artist is bringing \u201cJesus to jazz.\u201d<\/p>\n
Emma Nissen is living her dream: viral scatting, writing music and creating real personal connections with people all over the world who\u2019ll listen.<\/p>\n
But it wasn\u2019t always the whole world.<\/p>\n
Nissen first got her love for music growing up in Arizona, before serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints where she discovered her love for writing music \u2014 in Sweden, all the way up in the Arctic Circle, in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n
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Emma Nissen preforming live. (Emma Nissen)<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, nobody was doing normal missionary work. Everyone was trying to figure out a way to connect with people that was, like, normal and natural, (that) was the phrase we used,\u201d Nissen said. \u201cAnd I think I was anything but normal or natural. Honestly, my whole life, but especially in those two years.\u201d<\/p>\n
She got the idea for her first song when she was thinking about how much they needed faith during this time while plucking out chords on a church piano.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember making a voice memo of it and being like, \u2018Oh, I really like, I want to record this again,\u201d Nissen said. \u201cSo, I went back the next day, and I recorded it, and I posted it on Facebook, and I was like, wasn\u2019t for anyone other than just like for the plot, I suppose.\u201d<\/p>\n
And people did love it. Nissen credits the initial success to the uniqueness of Jazz in the Christian music world and how vulnerable and authentic she is. She doesn\u2019t ever claim to know all the answers, she just has a feeling that it will all turn out okay in the end.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome people are blessed with, like, just great faith all the time. I think I\u2019m blessed with great curiosity all the time,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
When Nissen returned home from her mission, she started recording her songs with a producer just down the street from her. Soon she was meeting with producers in Nashville.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had no idea what it was going to turn into or what it would be for people or how lucky I would be and blessed to be able to record it all and perform it and, you know, go on tours and stuff,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
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Emma Nissen preforming live.(Emma Nissen)<\/p>\n
Why Jazz?<\/p>\n
Nissen is a self-proclaimed \u201cold soul.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI love my geriatric crafts. I do a lot of \u2026 things that I feel like my grandma did, and one of those is I listen to a lot of jazz and like doo-wop from the 60s in high school,\u201d Nissen said.<\/p>\n
On top of that, she said she loves making noise and loved learning how to scat by listening to other Jazz artists.<\/p>\n
But the term \u201cJazz and Jesus\u201d really stuck when she was invited by a musical director to a jazz club in New York a couple of years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was on stage and he was like, \u2018It\u2019s like Jesus \u2026 it\u2019s like Jazz.\u2019 And then someone in the audience was like, \u2018Oh.\u2019 And he was like, \u2018Jesus and Jazz.\u2019 And I was like, \u2018Thank you,’\u201d Nissen said.<\/p>\n
She said that both really resonated with people.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just kind of funny because there was always someone in the audience that either loved Jesus or loved Jazz and a lot of times we would get both. And so it just kind of stuck,\u201d Nissen said.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The new song<\/p>\n
Nissen said her latest single, \u201cLive and Let Live,\u201d came from her desire to create a safe space for people who are finding their own way on their faith journey.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was experiencing online a lot of hate from people that were saying there\u2019s only one way to be a Christian,\u201d Nissen said. \u201cOr one way to get into heaven or one way to be doing things right \u2026 It was just so absolute and there was no room for grace. There was no room for individuality.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nissen said she feels passionately that everyone is just trying to learn how to live and how to love and we have to allow people to live their life.<\/p>\n
She hopes her listeners get whatever meaning they need from the song and wants them to know there\u2019s always room for curiosity and uncertainty with her.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first thing I want them to know is just, like, you\u2019re allowed to process being a human around me. And I want to do that too,\u201d Nissen said.<\/p>\n
Gigs, tour dates and the future<\/p>\n
Nissen is set to perform at the 28th Annual Ella Fitzgerald Music Festival<\/a> with Roberta Lea on Saturday in Virginia and then take off to tour Europe<\/a>, performing her music starting June 4.<\/p>\n As for any potential upcoming American tour dates, she said it\u2019s in the works. There\u2019s just a lot to figure out for her small team of two.<\/p>\n \u201cThe thing that people should know is that the team is me and Tom,\u201d Nissen said. \u201cTom is the best. He\u2019s my manager. And so I\u2019m the graphic designer \u2026 I made my website. I don\u2019t know how to make a website.\u201d<\/p>\n Nissen said she has made a lot of mistakes along the way but it\u2019s been rewarding because she has been able to have vulnerable one-on-one conversations with fans.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know, like people have just shared like, \u2018Oh, I lost my mom and then I found you.\u2019 Or like the amount of women that have told me I\u2019m on their birth playlists. I\u2019m like \u2018That\u2019s insane. Your child\u2019s first song is me. That\u2019s crazy.’\u201d<\/p>\n Right now, Nissen feels so blessed for the opportunities she\u2019s received and is looking forward to what the future has in store.<\/p>\n