Artist Category: Nordic

Kardemimmit

KARDEMIMMIT – The Sound of The Finnish Forest

Kardemimmit takes you to a journey into the Finnish Midsummer’s magical night where the sun doesn’t set at all. The air is filled with the ancient mystery of time standing still and the nature is heartbreakingly beautiful at the peak of its bloom.

Kardemimmit is a band of four awesome women playing the Finnish national instrument, kantele. The band members are Maija Pokela, Jutta Rahmel, Anna Wegelius and Leeni Wegelius. Kardemimmit is in charge of their own music – they compose, as well as arrange, write lyrics and produce. Alongside 15 and 38 stringed kanteles, singing has a big part in Kardemimmit’s musical universe where original pieces with a modern approach still have a strong foundation in Finnish, Eastern European and Scandinavian traditions. The Finnish reki-singing style, 19th century dancing music and Perhonjokilaakso kantele playing style, Eastern Finnish archaic improvisation and ancient runo singing are all present in Kardemimmit’s music.

Väsen

Väsen-Duo, Mikael Marin and Olov Johansson have, after 37 years of interaction and touring, refined their sound and their stage presence to the extent that today they are unique in their kind. With their playful and perfect interplay, they seem to defy the laws of physics in what appears to be a telepathic communication.

The music is intense and full of humour. They create their very own musical language which in its appeal is as modern as it is ancient. With the foundation firmly rooted in the traditional music of Uppland, they have always looked curiously at new musical goals.

Olov & Micke have played together since 1983 when they met at Oktoberstämman in Uppsala and discovered that they had a large common repertoire and a similar way of playing. It turned out that Micke had learned from Ivar Tallroth in Uppsala and Olov had learned from Curt Tallroth in Harbo. They had been introduced to the rich Bohlin / Tallroth tradition by the two brothers. Olov & Micke started playing intensively together and released their first recording, “Det rister i Örat,” in 1985. They have played an incredible amount together over the years in Väsen. Now they go on adventures among old fine musicians, stories and trad tunes and at the same time they continue to break new ground. They perform on a variety of stringed instruments, including a silverbasharpa, oktavharpa, three-rowed Nyckelharpa, violoncello da spalla and a blue electric viola.

SVER

SVER play epic Nordic folk music with relentless energy and seductive spark taking you on a fantastic musical journey guaranteed to excite you. Ranging from the very dreamy to a swinging, pounding and sweaty madness – you are invited to the party, greeted by a welcoming primal force that pulls you into the dance. Since the group’s inception, SVER has gone from strength to strength, playing extensively throughout Europe and the US, gaining a reputation as one of the most acclaimed live acts in the Nordic folk scene.

SVER’s latest album “Reverie” (2018) – their fourth release – arrives as they celebrate 10 years together as a quintet. Listen to these musicians as they gel and swing together in a way that’s seldom encountered and you will understand why they have won a reputation as red hot performers whose shows are sizzling affairs. the long-awaited follow up to the critically acclaimed albums ”Fryd” (2015), “Fruen” (2010), and “SVER” (2007).

SVER has often been described as “sounding electric without electricity”, and their flexible musicianship has also made them an attractive backing band for some of Scandinavia’s leading singers in different genres. That has lead to playing on TV-shows, big festivals and positions in the radio charts with the music ranging from folk to reggae/dancehall and rap. Their imaginative soundscapes, grooves, and melodies will take you on a journey over the Norwegian fjords and mountains, into the lively pubs and back out into the deep forest of their musicality.

SVER consists of Olav Luksengård Mjelva (fiddle and Hardanger fiddle), Anders Hall (fiddle and viola), Leif Ingvar Ranøien (diatonic accordion), Adam Johansson (guitar) and Jens Linell (Drums and percussion). Olav and Leif Ingvar have played together since 2002. Vidar Berge joined the group in 2007 on guitar and together they released the self-titled album “SVER”. In the spring of 2008, Anders and Jens completed the band, and they released “Fruen” in 2010. Vidar quit the band later that year and Adam joined the group.

Fru Skagerrak

The music of Fru Skagerrak takes you on a journey through Scandinavia; from lowlands to mountains, from slow airs to lively polkas, in major and in minor, and everything in between. Fru Skagerrak- ”Lady Skagerrak” – are three master musicians – one from each Scandinavian country: Maja Kjær Jacobsen from Denmark, Elise Wessel Hildrum from Norway and Anna Lindblad from Sweden.

In 2011, these three globetrotting musicians met for the first time at Tønder Festival, Denmark’s biggest Folk Festival, in a roaring session that had engulfed the backstage bar. Through the mayhem of tunes you could feel a certain Scandinavian groove, and in that moment the connection between these three fiddlers was clear. After meeting at Tønder Festival for three consecutive years, Fru Skagerrak finally saw the light of day in August 2014.The trio brings together the diverse traditions from each of their homelands, which surround the Skagerrak strait. Through a repertoire of traditional tunes, new compositions, and songs in their respective languages, they express their kinship and love of their shared heritage. The result is an explosion of the sounds that exist in Scandinavian music today.

Fru Skagerrak is:
~ Anna Lindblad (Sweden): Fiddle, 5 -stringed fiddle and song
(also known from LYY (S), Folk All-in Band (SE))
~ Elise Wessel Hildrum (Norway): Fiddle, recorder, viola and song
(also in Gudbrandsdølenes Spelemannslag (NO))
~ Maja Kjær Jacobsen (Denmark): Fiddle and song
(also known from Maskineri, and Maja Kjær Jacobsen Kvartett)

George Jackson & Patrik Ahlberg

The USA has long been the meeting place and melting pot of the world’s music and culture. It’s no coincidence then, that two fiddle players George Jackson and Patrik Ahlberg, from New Zealand and Sweden respectively, felt the magnetism of America and found themselves living between two cities on American Interstate 65.

After meeting in Chicago teaching at a summer music school in 2016, George and Patrik met again in Nashville to begin working on arrangements of tunes for two fiddles. Bringing together sounds from the deep tradition of Swedish folk music, the celtic origins of antipodean immigration and a shared passion for the traditions of Appalachian America, George and Patrik play spirited and thoughtful dance music and combine their influences without restraint.

Kolonien

The word Kolonien derives from Latin “Colonia”, meaning the cultivator and breaker of new grounds. But in Sweden it’s a term for community gardening, often just outside the cities.

A Koloni is a few square meters of land where urban people can grow some vegetables or flowers and create a sanctuary from city life.

“This Koloni concept sums up what the band means to us very well. A sort of sacred space where we can let things grow, whether it’s music, conversations or ourselves. We’re trying to break new grounds musically and cultivating a new story to grow into.”

Night Tree

Though each member of American/Swedish Night Tree originates from a different musical world, the six members have come together to a create a new sound that is unique to their instrumentation and musical voice, both attracting and bewildering enthusiastic crowds while connecting folk music lovers, cafe radio junkies, jazz enthusiasts, free-improvisers, and beyond.

In September of 2016, six wildly diverse musicians came together unexpectedly within the walls of Boston’s New England Conservatory to form New Acoustic band, Night Tree. The group, all students at NEC, were named the Conservatory’s WildCard Honors Ensemble for 2016-2017. Awards for this title included a sponsorship from NEC, a headlining performance at the historic Jordan Hall, and a year of working with Winifred Horan, fiddler and co-founder of Irish super-band, SOLAS. Night Tree released their debut album on September 1st of this year, produced by Séamus Egan, another founding member of SOLAS. Their album was ranked in the top 15 of every category in the compilation by Richard Gillmann from FOLKDJ-L playlists based on 12,417 airplays from 127 different DJs.

These six conservatory-trained musicians have absorbed genres from across the globe. Night Tree is unique, not only for its abnormal instrumentation of two fiddles, cello, accordion, saxophone, percussion, and the occasional viola and mandolin, but for their collective representation and incorporation of traditions from Irish, Classical, Swedish, Jazz, Klezmer, and Afro-Cuban music. Each artist’s personality is given a spot to emerge with fiery improvisation, individual compositions, and a pristine ear. The band thrives on playing in darkness as to allow themselves the opportunity to solely listen with the absence of any possible visual distractions. They react to each other at any given time, in a matter of seconds. They have learned to get inside each other’s musical minds, creating one blossoming and unpredictable wave of sound that is Night Tree.

Luke Skywalker