Lis Wessberg featuring Veronika Rud | In The Wake of Blue

Lis Wessberg featuring Veronika Rud | In The Wake of Blue | April 17, 2026

April Records proudly presents the new album from Danish trombonist and composer Lis Wessberg. Her most personal album to date, In The Wake of Blue is a song-driven work exploring transience, love, and transformation. Expanding her writing while remaining rooted in her distinctive instrumental voice, Wessberg creates an intimate musical landscape where lyric, melody, and texture carry equal weight.

In The Wake of Blue is set for release on April 17th, 2026 via April Records.

Wessberg has established herself as a leading voice on the European jazz scene through her band Yellow Map and a series of acclaimed releases on April Records. Her previous album, Twain Walking (2024), marked her first step into English-language songwriting and earned a Danish Music Award nomination in 2025 for the track Behind the Walls. In The Wake of Blue develops this direction further.

The album draws on images from nature – sea, tides, clouds, mist, and birds – used as emotional anchors rather than abstractions. These elements frame songs that move from uncertainty and loss toward openness, connection, and renewal. The title reflects this arc: “blue” as melancholy, depth, and memory, and what emerges in its wake.

Vocalist Veronika Rud is central to the album’s sound, bringing vulnerability and clarity to the songs. Rather than a traditional singer-led project, the music unfolds as a dialogue between voice and trombone, with Wessberg’s warm, airy tone mirroring and extending each song’s emotional core. At times the two move in close unison; elsewhere, they diverge and reconnect.

The core ensemble – Steen Rasmussen (piano and keys), Lennart Ginman (bass), and Jeppe Gram (drums) – provides a responsive, understated foundation, while string quartet Live Strings appear on two tracks, expanding the ensemble’s depth and resonance.

In The Wake of Blue offers a quietly assured statement from an artist continuing to refine a voice that speaks as clearly through brass as it does through words.

Line up

Track Listing

The Promise
Longing
In the Wake of Blue
Flux
Vapor
When Birds Flock
The Endless Thread
The Quiet Edge
Shadows in Bloom

PR Quotes

Jazz Journal (UK)
“Wessberg offers nothing less than pure Nordic longing – and healing – for the soul“

Jazzwise (UK)
“One for those who value atmosphere over urgency, this album rewards repeated listening”

Jazzthing (DE)
“The intimate sonic landscapes that emerge often have a lyrical quality one might not necessarily expect from Wessberg’s instrument”

Jazz-fun (DE)
“A quiet but impressive album – full of lyrical beauty, musical clarity and emotional truthfulness”

Esensja (PL)
“I suspect I’ll be revisiting “In the Wake of Blue” from time to time, until a new work by the Danish trombonist and composer appears. It deserves it.””

Maxazine (NL)
“Wessberg is one of the few capable of making a trombone sigh, only to then belt it out with full force.”

The Jazz Word (USA)
“a contemporary jazz record that stays warm, spacious, and quietly kinetic from beginning to end“

Jazzthetik (DE)
“The character of most pieces is gently flowing; in two tracks, a string quartet blends in elegantly. In his liner notes, colleague Nils Landgren speaks of floating, of dreaminess, of poetry. All of this can indeed be discovered here as well—a sense of connection to nature”

The Walkers (JP)
“The result is music that is both calm and assured, where refined tones and intricate ensemble playing resonate together, leaving a lasting impression on the listener”

Jazz Views (UK)
“Wessberg’s tone is so soft and searching in places that you’ll catch yourself wondering where the trombone ends and vocalist Veronika Rud begin”

Jazzda (PL)
“This is jazz that breathes and feels. It’s pure, green energy hidden in blue sounds”

UK Vibe (UK)
“Three albums in, Lis Wessberg continues to refine a voice that speaks as clearly through brass as it does through words, and there’s plenty to admire in the care and craft on display here”

SK Jazz (SK)
“an excellent album full of beauty, lyricism”