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.

Sweden - The South

 

After crossing the almost 8km long Öresund Bridge from Denmark we arrive in Sweden, land of elks and Ikea, lakes and laid back people, Abba and a treasure trove of Nordic folk.  I visited a couple times many years ago, the photos have long ago disappeared in the archives and again visited Stockholm a couple of years ago to visit a friend, when the photo above was taken.

The first place we encounter in Sweden is Malmö in the Scania county.  Folk musician and multi-instrumentalist Ale Möller was born around here in 1955.  He started off as a jazz trumpeter, but after a spell of living in Greece he learned the bouzouki and played with Greek maestro Mikis Theodorakis.  Returning to his native Sweden he dedicated himself to traditional Swedish folk as well as various fusion collaborations with musicians from as diverse places as Shetland, Greece, India and West Africa playing mandola, accordion, flute, shawm, dulcimer, harp and harmonica as well as bouzouki.  He played with Aly Bain of Shetland exploring the Nordic and Celtic crossover influences of those islands.  This is the opening tune to their 2001 album Fully Rigged called The Fully Rigged Ship/The Newly Rigged Ship:

The Swedish half of husband and wife team Sousou & Maher Cissoko also comes from the Malmö region while husband Maher comes from the Casamance region of Senegal.  Sousou grew up surrounded by music, especially the music of West Africa.  Her love of the Kora, the west African harp, led her to Senegal, where she studied in a family of Griots, where she met her husband.  Now the two of them tour the world, playing kora and guitar and singing their own compositions.  Here's a song from their 2018 album Made of Music called Lamp Fall:

Just north of Malmö is the town of Lund, where multi-instrumentalist and record producer Erik Asp-Upmark is based.  He plays many early instruments including the Säckpipa (Swedish back pipes) and harp in various bands.  One of his projects is Swedish folk band Svanevit, named after Sven Svanevit, a character from a Medieval Swedish ballad, who goes on a quest involving mythical creatures, magic and knights in shining armour.  Here's a tune from their 2008 album Rikedom ochGåvor called Åleätarns vals:

Next we are moving on to Skurup, also in Scania county, where Danish/Swedish folk quintet Tailcoat are based.  Their music is based around Rasmus Brinck's Nyckelharpa, acompanied by fiddle, bass, drums and cittern, giving their tunes a bit of a jazzy feel.  Here's a tune from their 2019 album Tall Tales in Tiny Pieces called Havgusens March:

Next we are heading a long way up the east coast of Sweden to the Baltic Sea island of Gotland.  According to legend a guy called Tjelvar was the first inhabitant of the island, after he freed it from a curse of sinking under the waves during daylight hours.  Folk band Gunnfjauns Kapell named themselves after Tjelva's grandson, thus carrying on the traditions and legacy of Gotland.  They've been going since 1982 and here is a song from their 1998 album Vollund called Andetag (Breath), referring to the wind that is a constant feature of the island:

Next stop is the city of Linköping, where accordionist and composer Lars Hollmer was born in 1948.  Sadly he died in 2008 of cancer in his adopted home town of Uppsala.  His music ranged from prog rock to jazz to Nordic folk tunes.  He was a member of numerous bands, collaborated with Japanese jazz players and composed music for films.  His last solo album released before his death was Viandra in 2007, and this is a tune from the album called Prozesscrik, where his prog rock influences can be clearly heard:

Next we are heading for Gothenburg or Göteborg, a lively port city on the Swedish west coast.  This is where singer/songwriter Sofia Talvik was born in 1978.  She combines Nordic folk influences with pop and jazz.  In her latest venture she combined with German David Floer to form the duo Hansan in reference to the Hanseatic League that was once a major trading link in the Baltic region.  They've created a melancholic Nordic sound.  This a song from their 2020 debut album Nattflykt (Night flight) called Fjärilsvärld:

In 1972 Folk-rock band Folk Och Rackare was formed in Gothenburg by Carin Kjellman and Ulf Gruvberg in the footsteps of English folk rockers Faiport Convention.  In 1976 they were joined by Norwegian members of the band Folque as guest musicians on their self-titled album, who subsequently became established members of the band.  This is the opening track from that album called Herr Olof och Havsfrun:

Once upon a time Scandinavia and Britain were connected by a large land bridge where the North Sea now is.  There were people living on that mass of land and moving backwards and forwards.  Refugees didn't have to risk dangerous crossings of the Channel in rubber dinghies (mind you they might have had to dodge bears and sabre tooth tigers perhaps...).  

This preamble takes us to the Koster Islands on Sweden's west coast just before the border to Norway.  This is were folk-jazz combo FatDog met during a music festival in 2011.  The name is an amalgam of the names of 2 bands namely Norwegian jazz trio Fattigfolket and Swedish/English folk trio Doggerland.  They very much place their music as a meeting point between Britain and Scandinavia on a mythical island between the 2, which may have once existed, all with a big dose of jazz.  Here is a song from their only album to date New Found Land issued in 2014 called Ring the Changes:

That's it from Southern Sweden for today.  We'll come back to Sweden as we zigzag our way around Scandinavia, but next stop is Norway.  In the meantime you can follow my virtual travels on my tripline map.

Denmark - Sjælland Part II

As we continue our exploration of Copenhagen, we encounter balfolk band the Mads Hansens Kapel.  Coming from a variety of musical backgrounds the 5 members of the band got together in 2015 to play traditional Danish dance tunes with a slightly unusual line-up of instruments with fiddle, guitar, bass, piano and clarinet, which gives them a sometimes slightly jazzy feel.  Here is a live version of a tune called Newcastle Hotline from their latest 2021 EP One For the Road:

Like most capital cities, Copenhagen has its fair share of international influences and a thriving global music scene.  One such example is North Macedonian saxophonist and clarinettist Bjonko, who has made Copenhagen his home.  He creates a crossover of Balkan Beats and Nordic contemporary sounds and hip-hop.  Here's a hip-hop Balkan number called OPA! from his 2021 album Enigma:

Spanish guitarist (the guitar style being Spanish, not the player) Jacob Gurevitsch was actually born in the small town Havnbjerg in the southeast of the country, but is now very much a Copenhagen resident.  He is at pains to point out that he does not play flamenco, but melancholic style Spanish guitar tunes mostly in minor tunings evoking romantic moods of Spain.  Here is the title track of his 2015 debut album Lovers in Paris:

Danish/Pakistani Sufi Rock band Rocqawali combine the 1000 year old traditional Pakistani Sufi music of Qawali with 70's style rock'n'roll.  The Pakistani front man Ejaz Sher Ali comes from one of Pakistan's most eminent musical families, and he is backed by 4 Danish musicians from the Indie Rock scene.  Here is the opening track of their 2017 album Sufi Spirit called Ill Allah:

The north meets the east with Klezmer band Mames Babegenush, who blend Nordic calm with East European wedding music.  The 6-piece band formed in 2004 in an effort to revive the Danish Klezmer scene and developed their own style of the genre.  For their 2017 album Mames Babegenush with Strings they added, as the name suggests, some strings to their sound and this is the opening track to the album called Tornado Albastru:

Fusion band Total Hip Replacement combine Reggae, soul with a dash of Afrobeat.  They mostly operate as a live band touring extensively around the world, but have brought out some notable releases.  This a song from their 2020 album Bliss called Lost in Thought:

Finally, just before hopping over the bridge to Sweden, we go to the island of Amager, which houses the eastern half of Copenhagen.  We started this post with something traditional and we shall finish on that note.  Medieval folk band Virelai has a Viking theme to much of their music with Nordic ballads as well as some southern European dance tunes, all played on traditional instruments. This song is homage to the Norse goddess of love and fertility Freja and was released as a single in 2017: Frejas Store Kraft:

That's it from Denmark, next stop the south of Sweden.  In the meantime, as usual, you can follow my virtual musical journey on my Tripline map. 

Denmark - Sjælland Part I

 Next we are heading over the bridge to the island of Sjælland or Zealand, which includes the capital city of Copenhagen.  I visited Copenhagen once a looooong time ago and my memory of it is a bit hazy.  We approached the city from the north and visited the Tuborg brewery first at 9 am.  Being this early most people only wanted one of the two beers offered for free at the end of the tour, so I volunteered to finish off everybody else's beers, so they wouldn't go to waste.  The rest of the day in Copenhagen kind of disappeared in a blur for some reason... can't think why.  

Anyway, we start in the small town of Næstved, where part of the folk band Baltic Crossing comes from, namely fiddle player Kristian Bugge, the rest of the band come from Finland and also includes Northumbrian pipe player Andy May, whom we have already met in Newcastle on this blog.  The name of the band derives from the fact that wherever they get together, at least one of them has to cross the Baltic Sea.  They play lively traditional dance tunes from all over Europe.  Here is a fun tune from their 2019 album Carry On Crossing called Oyster Wife's Rant:

Next we are heading to the small town of Gadstrup, 20km southwest of Copenhagen, where Dark Nordic folk singer and composer Nanna Barslev is from.  She employs ancient Nordic instruments and singing techniques to paint an atmospheric soundscape of the north.  Her latest album, released this year, is called Lysbærer (carrier of light) and this is a track from the album called Mod Vrede:

In a similar vein we finally arrive in Copenhagen where Nordic folk musician Mike Schaefer Olsen, better known as Danheim, was born in 1985.  Unlike Nanna Barslev his background is in electronic music, which he incorporates in his Nordic folk sounds with traditional Viking instruments.  Here's a song called Reida from his from his 2020 album Skapanir:

The band Myrkur was initially founded in 2014 by singer and multi-instrumentalist Amalie Bruun as a black metal group in Copenhagen, but on their their third album Folkesange in 2020 changed to a more upbeat folky style.  At the outset the identity of Bruun was kept a secret, but has since been revealed.  She clearly likes to do things differently, playing many of the instruments in her recordings herself, including guitar, bass and nyckelharpa.  Here's the opening track to that album called Ella:

The members of Nordic trio Dreamers' Circus, Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen (Faroe Islands), Ale Carr (Sweden) and Nikolaj Busk (Denmark), met at a jam session at a folk festival in Copenhagen in 2009.  Their music defies genres with influences of Nordic folk, jazz and classical music melding into something of a Nordic Penguin Café Orchestra.  It has been described as New Nordic.  Here's a track from their 2018 album Rooftop Sessions called Kitchen Stories:

Fiddler Rune Tonsgaard Sørensen is also part of the Grammy-nominated Danish String Quartet, who are mostly a classic chamber music quartet, but often delve into traditional Nordic tunes.  The 3 Danish members of the band are joined by Norwegian cellist Fredrik Schøyen Sjölin.  Whilst they all have beards and may or may not be Vikings, they assure their fans they only pillage the coasts of England occasionally.  Here's a tune called Shore by the aforementioned Fredrik Sjölin from their 2017 album Last Leaf:

On this calming note we'll end it for today, exploring more of Copenhagen and Zealand next time.  In the meantime, as usual, you can follow my virtual ramblings on my tripline map.

Denmark - Aarhus & Funen

We're taking the long journey back from Greenland via Iceland and the Faroes to continue our journey through Denmark.  Next stop here is the second largest city of Denmark, Aarhus, in the east of the Jutland peninsula.  There are a few acts active here.  Let's start with something soothing and gentle from folk/jazz trio Hvalfugl.  They combine light jazz with Nordic folk to create moods often associated with the seasons.  Here is an atmospheric tune from their 2021 EP En Dag I Oktober called Stilhed før Stormen:

Folktronica band Sorten Muld (Black soil or dark ground) formed in Aarhus in 1995.  They interweave Nordic Medieval ballads with trip hop and techno to create a unique Scandinavian sound.  Here's the opening track from their 2021 album Mark IV - Lånt Tid called Hillelil:

The 3 members of Turkish psych band Ipek Yolu got together for a spontaneous jam session at the 2018 Aarhus Roots & Hybrid Festival.  They blend Electro-tinged Cumbia with Turkish folk and 60's Psychedelia.  Their name is the Turkish for Silk Road.  They released their debut album Tropical Anatatolia in 2021 and this track is called Ayvaz:

Next stop is the small town of Gelsted on the island of Funen, where folk singer Helene Blum was born in 1979.  Gelsted is in the delightfully named municipality of Middelfart.  Starting off as a classical pianist, Helene graduated from the folk music department of the Carl Nielsen Academy of Music in Odense.  She sings mostly own compositions inspired by Nordic folk, but also dabbles in opera and other genres.  Her 2013 debut album Men med åbne øjne gained her immediate critical acclaim from the Daily Telegraph, as did her 2017 album Dråber af Tid (Droplets of time).  This is the opening track of the latter album called En lille dråbe blod (A little drop of blood):

Helene Blum often performs together with her fiddler husband Harald Haugaard, who is also from the island of Funen.  Here they are together as the Helene Blum & Harald Haugaard Band playing a song called Stranden from their 2020 album Strømmen:

Moving on to Odense, the largest city on Funen we meet folk musician Rune Barslund (whistle and accordion) who is part of the Celtic folk trio Inver, the other parts being Kevin Lees (fiddle) and Matthew Jones (guitar) from Newcastle in England.  Rune studied at Limerick University where he picked up some traditional Irish folk tunes.  Here is a set of tunes called The Mouse in the Cupboard / The Cat's Meow / Dick Sherlock's from their 2019 debut album Heading Out 

Also from Odense are Nordic folk band Basco, who combine various Scandinavian influences  with some Anglo-Saxon folk leanings. On their latest 2021 album Raek Mig Faklen they collaborate with folk singer Jullie Hjetland, who was born in Svendborg on Funen of Norwegian and Danish heritage, and has lived all over Scandinavia and Greenland, therefore having had a thorough immersion in various Nordic traditions and speaking the different languages fluently. Here's the opening track from the album called Sortøjet Dreng:

That's it for today, next we are heading to the island of Zealand, where the capital Copenhagen is located.  Until then you can follow my virtual travels on my Tripline map. 

Greenland - Nuuk and the South

 We take the next ferry south to arrive in the capital of Greenland, Nuuk, which contains a third of the population of the country.  Inuk indie-folk singer/songwriter Nive Nielsen was born here in 1979.  She tours internationally with her band the Deer Children singing mostly in English, with a few songs thrown in in Greenlandic.  Here is one of her songs in Greenlandic from her 2015 album Feet First called Tulugaq with some nice shots of Greenlandic scenery:

Hip-hop band Nuuk Posse formed in 1985 and rap in Greenlandic, English and Danish.  They don't appear to have a website any more and might no longer be active, but here is a track to their 1995 album NP called Inupiliaqqat:

The indie-rock band Nanook was formed by brothers Christian and Frederick Elsner in Nuuk in 2008.  The brothers are half Inuit, half Danish and sing in Greenlandic.  They also run a record company and a musical instrument shop in Nuuk.  They are the most popular current pop act in Greenland, their name referring to a mythological Greenlandic bear.  This is a track from their 2018 album Ataasiusutut Misigissuseq called Aarnuaq (Talisman) filmed in Uummannaq in the north:

Finally we hop on a ferry again to the southern town of Qarqortoq, where singer/songwriter Simon Lynge grew up, although he was born in Holstebro in Denmark in 1980.  He quotes his early influences as Jimi Hendrix, the Doors, Simon and Garfunkel and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and he sings mostly in English.  He comes from a long line of musicians in his family, and he has been the first to achieve international success.  Here is the title from his 2018 album Deep snow, which is available as a free download on his website.  The video is filmed in Nuuk:

That's it from Greenland.  In conclusion it seems the Greenlanders like the letter Q rather a lot in their language, I wonder what the Q is worth in their version of Scrabble (answers on a postcard, please)?  Next we'll return to Denmark to continue our virtual journey of that country.  Meanwhile you can follow my path on my tripline map.

Greenland - Part I

 For the next leg of our virtual journey we need to take a plane or hitch a ride on a fishing boat from Iceland to Greenland.  It's the largest non-continental island in the world, which geographically belongs to the North American continent, but politically is part of Denmark, with a population of only about 56,000.Donald Trump famously wanted to buy it off Denmark, but the Greenlanders were not massively impressed.  The population is made up of 89.5% indigenous Inuit and the climate is raw.  The settlements are connected by plane or a ferry service that runs once a week and fishing is the main economic activity with no roads in the interior.  Musically there is a surprising amount of it being put out.  Traditionally the frame drum and shamanic chanting are the main forms of musical entertainment, but various modern influences are now predominant.

Now, given the harsh climate and long winter nights, Greenland has one of the highest suicide rates in the world, so I suppose they need to let off some steam every now and then and heavy metal and hard rock feature heavily in the music scene.  So we start our trip in the far northwest of the country in the town Uummannaq, situated on a rocky island and the northernmost ferry terminal in Greenland (and apparently where Santa Claus lives...), where heavy metal band Siissisoq hail from.  They were formed in 1994 and are one of most popular rock bands in Greenland.  Their name means rhino in Greenlandic and all their lyrics are in Greenlandic.  Heavy Metal is not my favourite genre, but we'll play you some to represent the north of Greenland.  This a song called Tunersuilo, not sure where you'd get the album:

Next we are taking the ferry southwards along the west coast of Greenland to arrive in Maniitsoq, where singer-songwriter Rasmus Lyberth was born in 1951.  His music style can best be described as jazz influenced pop-rock with a definite Greenlandic character.  He is one of the most popular artists in the Greenlandic music scene.  On his latest 2019 album Inuunerup opafigaanga/Livet skal leves på ny he includes a climate song in Greenlandic (with helpful English subtitles), a subject that affects this part of the world harder than elsewhere: 

There isn't much I can find out about folk accordionist Louis Andreasen, except that he was from somewhere in Greenland and died in 1988 aged 71.  However some of his music has survived in recorded form such as this polka called Saqisaaq which features on the Rough Guide to Scandinavian Music released in 2000:

In 1976 a Greenlandic rock band formed that initiated the start of a velvet revolution.  They were called Sumé (which means where in Greenlandic), and although they started off in Denmark, they were the first band to sing highly political songs in the Greenlandic language advocating independence from Denmark.  Whilst they haven't succeeded in their ultimate goal, Greenland now has a high degree of autonomy.  Their debut album Sumat (where to) was bought by 20% of the Greenlandic population and gained iconic status in the country.  In 2014 a film was released called Sumé - The Sound of a Revolution, documenting the story of the band and its influence on Greenlandic history.  Here is the trailer:

Here's a live version of their song Innuneq (with helpful Danish subtitles...), which features on their 1977 self-titled album:

That's it from Greenland for the moment, next we are visiting the capital Nuuk and the south of the country.  In the meantime you can follow my virtual ramblings on my tripline map as usual.