Norway - Viken County Part II & Vestfold og Telemark

 Before leaving Oslo we meet Sámi yoiker Kajsa Balto who was born in Oslo to parents of the Sápmi nation which covers the north of Scandinavia with its own language and culture.  The music of her ancestral country, which is based on yoiking or joiking, a Sámi chanting style similar to native American chanting, blended with more modern urban pop and folk are what inspires Kajsa.  Here's a song from her 2020 album Buot eallá (Everything is alive) called Min máttuid rávvagat (The advice from our ancestors):

Next we are heading northwest from Oslo to the small village of Torpo in the Ål municipality, where actor, dancer and folk singer Margit Myhr was born in 1990.  She has released a few albums as leader of the Kvedarkvintetten and last year collaborated with Hardanger fiddler Erlend Apneseth, who is from Vestland (more of him later), to record an album of traditional Norwegian folk songs called Slåttesong.  Here's a live performance of a song off that album called Gro Gudmundsrud, although Erlend is just sitting by in this one, but as I say more of him in a later post.

Also from the Ål municipality and possibly a relation is Hardanger fiddle player and singer Helga Myhr (born 1995), who works in the field of Norwegian folk as well as contemporary and experimental music, both as a solo artist and as part of various projects. One of her projects is folk band Morgonrode (old Norwegian for the red sun rising at dawn), combining traditional tunes with original lyrics and parts of improvisation, reflecting the various musical backgrounds of the band members.  Here's quite an hypnotic tune by them called Huldresull, which is the opening track to their 2020 album Du milde verden:

 

Moving on we arrive in Geilo in the Hol Municipality, still in Viken County for something quite unique.  This is where Jazz percussionist Terje Isungset comes from, who has been hailed as the world's first and only ice musician.  He has been experimenting with building instruments from all kinds of natural materials, such as arctic birch, granite, slate and sheep bells, but it was a commission to play and compose inside a frozen waterfall in Lillehammer in 1999 that led to his growing interest in making music from blocks of ice cut from glaciers.  He has since gained international fame, touring indoor venues as well as playing in situ and releasing numerous albums of his compositions.  Here is a tune from one of his concerts called A Glimpse of Light:

There is even a film out about his exploits, which sounds interesting to have a look at:

And this is from his latest album Glacial Poetry called When Ice Sings, recorded inside an igloo:

Next we are heading back south into the county of Vestfold & Telemark to the municipality of Notodden where folk singer, anthropologist and pedagogue Frode Nyvold was born in 1949.  He is head of department of folk culture at the Rauland Institute.  He has recorded numerous albums of Norwegian folk songs and his latest 2020 album is called Soldater og Redelik Sjømen (Soldiers and honest seamen), which has a hint of the sea shanty tradition.  Here's a song off that album called Soldaten:

Finally we stop in Heddal in the Telemark, where veteran harmonica player Sigmund Groven was born in 1946.  Groven has become known as one of the world's leading classical harmonica players, playing anything from classical music, to pop and Beatles covers and Norwegian folk, touring the world doing so.  In 2020 he returned to his roots and recorded an album with fiddler Knut Buen (born 1948 in Kongsberg, Viken County) of tunes from his home region, The Sound of Telemark.  This is the opening track to the album called Bruremarsj frå Seljord:

That's it from this part of Norway for today, next we are heading back down towards the coast to circumnavigate the nose of the 'Norwegian bear'.  In the meantime you can follow my virtual travels on my Tripline map.

Norway - Oslo Part III

 We continue our exploration of the music of Oslo.  The Hardanger fiddle or hardingfele is central to much of the traditional music of Norway and trio Valkyrien Allstars take it in to folk-rock territory.  They were formed in 2003 in Oslo and have varied in personnel, often backed by bass and drums.  Here's a song from their 2007 self-titled debut album called Å gjev du batt meg:

A couple of years ago Norwegian fiddler Hans Kjorstad invited Scottish folk musician Alasdair Roberts to Oslo to collaborate in a project with Norwegian band Völvur for a session combining their respective traditions.  The result was a performance at Celtic Connections and the 2021 album The Old Fabled River.  This is one of 2 songs on the album sung in Norwegian called Nu rinner solen opp:

Another Scottish collaboration sees Shetland native fiddler Sarah-Jane Summers, who has made Oslo her home, and Finnish/Norwegian guitarist Juhani Silvola get together to produce an energetic and invigorating Scottish/Nordic instrumental folk amalgam, peppered with improvisation and experimental elements.  Their self-titled 2021 album Sarah-Jane Summers & Juhani Silvola has received rave reviews, including a Top of the World in Songlines Magazine.  Here is one of the slower tunes from that album called Portobello Smile:

Norwegian Christian choir SKRUK was founded in 1973 by conductor Per Oddvar Hilde.  They have recorded some 25 albums since then and have collaborated with musicians from all over the world.  A particularly interesting collaboration took place in 2010 with Persian classical singer Mahsa Vahdat (born coincidentally also in 1973 in Teheran) interpreting Sufi poems by Rumi and Hafez.  The resulting album was called I Vinens Spel (In the mirror of wine) and lyrics are partially in Farsi, partially translated into Norwegian.  This is a song from the album, called Brevet Til Vinbæreren (Letter to the wine bearer).  I often write letters to wine bearers myself: "please send more wine, I'm thirsty"

Finally for multinational collective Monoswezi, whose Norwegian component Hallvard Godal is from Oslo.  The name Monoswezi is an amalgam of the first letters of the respective nationalities of the band members, Mozambique, Norway, Sweden and Zimbabwe and also a play on words, 'mono' for the Greek word for 'one' and 'swezi' for the South African dialect word for 'world'.  As it says on the tin they combine African sounds with Nordic jazz.  Apart from multi-instrumentalist Godal the band also consists of the vocals and Mbira of Zimbabwean Hope Masike, Calu Tsemane on vocals and percussion from Mozambique, Putte Johander on bass and Erik Nylander on percussion, both from Sweden.  Here is the opening track to their latest 2021 album Shanu called Kuwonererwa:

That's it from Oslo for today.  As usual you can follow my virtual ramblings on my Tripline map.