Icelandic jazz pianist Sunna Gunnlaugs will release her new trio album at the Barbican Theater on the London Jazz Festival on November 12th. The album is the first recording of the trio she has been working with since moving back to Iceland from Brooklyn. The music is mostly originals by all three musicians, with the exception of two covers by Rufus Wainwright and Ben Harper.

It is also her first album without a saxophonist since her 1997 debut. Past albums featured Tony Malaby, Loren Stillman, Ohad Talmor and fellow Icelander Sigurður Flosason.

For those of us who can't make it to London to get a copy, the digital release date is a day early. Meaning, you can download it on 11/11/11 at... (this is too cute) 11:11pm EST.

However, fans can also get involved in the release via her Kickstarter page ( http://kck.st/ncm3Dr ) where she is offering rewards for various levels of participation. These range from an pre-release download of the album, to a DVD with interviews and footage from the recording session. One can even commission her to write a piece of music for an upcoming album.

Having just returned to Iceland from a tour of Germany and Austria and now heading to London, it seems the distance from Iceland to the rest of the world is getting shorter for Gunnlaugs.