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 - Viken County & Oslo Part I

We arrive in Norway on our virtual musical journey, the country of spectacular fjords and a rugged coastline, salted cod and reindeer, colourful houses and stoic people, trolls and the midnight sun and also a long tradition of music.  Here's a couple of pics from my visit in the early 1980's:

We start in the newly created Viken county, which surrounds the capital Oslo. First stop is the small town of Mysen near the Swedish border, where jazz saxophonist Jan Gabarek was born in 1947 as a son of a Polish former prisoner of war.  He started off with dissonant avant garde jazz, but later incorporated Scandinavian folk tunes and other world influences into his music.  His style is noted for a sharp-edged tone, long, keening sustained notes and generous use of silence.  In 1994 he famously co-operated with the Hilliard Ensemble singing Gregorian chants.  This is the haunting title track from his 1998 album Rites:

Moving on to the municipality of Eidsvoll, where jazz musician and multi-instrumentalist Stian Carstensen was born in 1971.  He started off playing the accordion and added guitar and 5-string banjo to his repertoire.   He spent some time in Bulgaria, which influenced him greatly and has since added many other world influences to his style, including folk traditions from southern Europe.  This is a track from his latest 2021 album Musical Sanatorium called Hippocampus Serenade.  I love the video that goes with it.

Carrying on with the jazz theme we move on to the small town of Strømmen, which is part of Lillestrøm just east of Oslo.  This is where Norway's most famous jazz bassist Arild Andersen was born in 1945.  He started his career in Jan Gabarek's quartet, but has since forged a varied and successful career, both as a leader and collaborator with jazz greats from all over the world.  Here is the title track from his 1997 album Hyperborean:

Next we arrive in Oslo, the capital of Norway, where we'll be lingering for a while.  I also visited here back in 1982.  Here's a picture of the fountain in the Vigeland park, a park in Oslo littered with 200 sculptures by Norwegian artist Gustav Vigeland:

This is blues guitarist Knut Reiersud was born in 1961.  To simply describe him as a blues musician is not doing him justice as he has developed his own style not just copying a Delta styles, but incorporating Nordic influences and sounds from Africa and India into his music as well as jazz and as well as the guitar he also plays harmonica, mandolin, langeleik (a Norwegian droned zither), oud and Turkish saz.  Here's a track from his 2017 album Gitar called Hard Times Killing Floor:

The members of Swedish/Norwegian alternative rock band Kalandra actually met in England, but are now firmly based in Oslo.  They weave ethereal melodies into raw and eerie musical landscapes according to their own words.  Here is a track from their 2017 EP Beneath the Breaking Waves called Lullaby:

Although born in Oslo violinist Harpreet Bansal was trained from an early age in North Indian classical music by her father Harbhajan Singh Bansal.  She initially studied for a bachelor in western classical music before gaining a master degree in Indian music at the Norwegian State Accademie of Music.  She incorporates some European and Middle Eastern influences in her music as well as elements of jazz.  Here are a couple of extracts from her 2020 album Movements:

That's it from Oslo for today, next time we'll do some traditional folk from Oslo.  Until then you can follow my virtual ramblings on my Tripline map.