Niels Præstholm graduated from The Rhythmic Music Conservatorium in Copenhagen in 1990 as a student of the late Niels Henning Ørsted Pedersen.

Before Niels Præstholm had reached the age of 25 he had been playing and touring with many of the greatest artists in jazz such as Clark Terry, Teddy Wilson, Horace Parlan, Lee Konitz, Kenny Drew, Ed Thigpen, Sahib Shihab, Trinidadian steel pan virtuoso Rudy “Twolef” Smith, Michael Gregory Jackson and many others.

After many years and many tours all over the world he formed his first regular band Embla together with saxist Thomas Agergaard and pianist Carsten Dahl to explore the Scandinavian sound. Embla released the highly acclaimed album “Embla”