The songwriters, Kormáksson and Soul , met in Iceland 1993 and soon began writing music together. In 1994 they made their first CD, " HUNGRY FOR NEWS ", with JJ Soul Band and in 1997, " CITY LIFE ". On both CDs the music is many-sided; blues, R&B, fusion, rock, pop and latin, sometimes all in one (blues-confusion?) . Singer/songwriter J.J. Soul is from Oxford , England but Ingvi is from Iceland as is the rest of the band. The band has hitherto mainly served as a vehicle for the songwriting team. The band's third CD is " REACH FOR THE SKY (publ. by Atlanta Music Group d/b/a Hannon-Hawkins Music, BMI). Publication date for the fourth album will probably be set in spring 2007.

Band members :

J..J. SOUL: Vocals, Percussion, Guitar, Harmonica, composer

Mr. Soul has been living and breathing music since he was eight years old. He used to play drums with small jazz units and worked both as a drummer and a singer with various rock and cabaret acts in England for many years. Since he moved to Iceland , he has focused on his writing skills and writes both songs and (mainly) lyrics. J.J. Soul currently resides in Oxford , U.K. He works as a painter, musician and art teacher. Mr. Soul is also the author of three historical novels.

INGVI THOR KORMÁKSSON: Keyboards, composer

Before J.J. Soul Band, Ingvi Thor used to play in dance bands but in recent years he has occupied himself with songwriting and has to this day 10 LP's/CD's to his credit. Altogether; he has had more than 120 of his compositions (soft-jazz/latin-pop) recorded by various artists. He has also written pop-tunes, some of which have entered the Eurovision Song Contest´s semi-finals in Iceland .

EDVARD LARUSSON: Guitars, arr.

Considered to be one of Iceland 's hottest Jazz/Rock guitar players, Edvard claims to be self-taught (!) which isn't exactly the truth because he graduated with honours from The Icelandic Jazz Conservatory. Edvard has played with various bands, notably Tibra, The Combo, Mezzoforte , Borgardaetur (City Daughters), the jazz group Delerad, Bubbi Morthens and Eivor Palsdottir, besides keeping up a busy schedule as a session player.

STEFAN INGOLFSSON: Bass.

Stefan studied music both in Reykjavik and at the Musicians Institute, in L.A. He has since played in many blues, jazz and fusion bands, one of whom is the considerately well known Súld (Drizzle). Stefan is currently living in Akureyri (The Town of the Midnight Sun), working on various jazz projects and teaching at Akureyri's Music Conservatorium

STEINGRIMUR OLI: Drums & Percussion

Steingrimur Oli studied trumpet and percussion in conservatories in Akureyri and Reykjavik .

He has played with numerous artists, the new-wave rock group Pax Vobis, jazz/fusion band Gammar (Vultures) and jazz guitarist Bjorn Thoroddsen with whom he recorded a number of albums.

------------ also on " Reach For The Sky "

INGVI RAFN INGVASON: Drums

Ingvi Rafn has been an active jazz and pop musician. He recently finished two years of drum studies in USA . He has played with dance bands and various artists in jazz, pop and blues.

DAVID THOR JONSSON : Piano, Hammond , Rhodes-pno

David studied in Norway and graduated from the FIH (Musician's Union ) Jazz school in 2001 with highest mark. This "wunderkind" of jazz in Iceland has made his first solo album and is working on various innovative projects.

DJ INTRO : Turntables

DJ Intro is a member of the Icelandic hip-hop ensemble Forgotten Lores which has released two albums. Intro took part in the Vestax Turntablist World Championship, 2002 as the Scandinavian representative.

AWARDS ETC.

Kormaksson & Soul (JJ Soul Band)

" CITY LIFE " (City Life) - 1. prize ; R&B/Jazz category; USA Songwriting Competition, 1997 .

"ANGELIQUE" (Reach For The Sky) 1. prize ; Jazz/Blues cat.; Pacific International Song Contest, 2005

"COOL TONIGHT" (Reach For The Sky) - 1 st Place Award ; SongPrize, 2004

" WATCH OUT " (Hungry For News) - 2. prize ; the 4th Hastings International Songwriting Contest, 1996 .

"FIVE BELOW ZERO" (Hungry For News) - award of merit; South Pacific International Song Contest 1997

"ALTERED STATES" (City Life) - achievement award; UNISONG International Song Contest 1997

" CAN´T WAIT A LIFETIME " (Reach For the Sky) honor award ; The Great American Song Contest, 2000 .

"THE TIMES WE'RE LIVING IN" (Reach For The Sky) - finalist; UK Songwriting Contest, 2002.

"BETTER" (Reach For The Sky) - finalist; Unisong International Song Contest, 2003.

"MOONBRIGHT - MOONLIGHT" (Reach For The Sky) - finalist (jazz&blues); UK Songwriting Contest, 2003 .

"COOL TONIGHT" (Reach For The Sky) - honorable mention award ; Mid-Atlantic Song Contest, 2003

JJ SOUL BAND (album : Reach For The Sky ) - finalist (Blues/R&B); Independent Music Awards, 2004

INGVI THOR:

TONIGHT (ALL MY LOVE.) by Kormaksson and Erlingsson

1. prize (latin category); Song Expo ( Benelux International Song & Culture Festival), 2003 ,

1. prize (instrumental / jazz category); UNISONG 2005,

2. prize; "Runner Up" (World Music Category); John Lennon Songwriting Contest, 2004

Finalist (folk / country category); The UK Songwriting Contest, 2003 ,

Honorable Mention Awards ("World" category"); Billboard Song Contest, 2004

Achievement awards from UNISONG 1998 and 2001 for instrumental songs

" WHEN YOU ARE NEAR and " THE MIRROR ".

The former also received honor award from USA Songwriting Competition 2001

with another song, " I ALMOST TOUCHED YOU " (A gotu), as a finalist (jazz category).

ICELAND :

Channel 1 Radio Song Contest, 1999 ; 2. prize: VID DONSUM SAMBA

Ljósalagid 2004 , finalist: NÓTTIN HVISLAR

Distribution in Iceland : SKIFAN www.skifan.is

WEBSITE: www.jjsoulband.com/