Tag Archives: Nordic music

  Ruth MacKenzie’s Kalevala: Dream of the Salmon Maiden

Chuck Lipsig penned this review. The Kalevala is the Finnish national epic, as collected and compiled by Elias Lonnrot in the second quarter of the 19th century. In Kalevala: Dream of the Salmon Maiden, Ruth MacKenzie, who is based in the Minneapolis … Continue reading

Posted in Music | Tagged , | Comments Off on   Ruth MacKenzie’s Kalevala: Dream of the Salmon Maiden

The Nordic Fiddlers Bloc’s Deliverance

Deliverance, the second release by The Nordic Fiddlers Bloc, brims with life, energy, a lot of joy and a little bit of sorrow, all poured out in the delightful strains of fiddle music from three different but related traditions. The … Continue reading

Posted in Music | Tagged , , | Comments Off on The Nordic Fiddlers Bloc’s Deliverance

Jakob Bro’s Streams

Streams by Danish guitarist Jakob Bro’s trio, is a beautifully flowing project featuring the young American bassist Thomas Morgan and the veteran drummer Joey Baron on the skins, replacing Jon Christensen, who played on Bro’s previous trio outing Gefion. Even … Continue reading

Posted in Music | Tagged , | Comments Off on Jakob Bro’s Streams

Mats Eilertsen’s Rubicon

The tune “March” on Mats Eilertsen’s Rubicon is one of the most delicious bits of atmospheric noir jazz I’ve heard in some time. It’s unexpected coming from this Norwegian bassist’s septet, on an album that draws on various styles and … Continue reading

Posted in Music | Tagged , | Comments Off on Mats Eilertsen’s Rubicon

Nils Økland Band’s Kjølvatn

Kjølvatn is an acoustic tradition-based project by Norwegian hardanger fiddler Nils Økland. His most recent release on ECM was by his psychedelic, distortion-drenched drone-rock band Lumen Drones. In contrast, Kjølvatn sounds like ancient music, sometimes drawn from folk sources and … Continue reading

Posted in Music | Tagged , | Comments Off on Nils Økland Band’s Kjølvatn

Andrea Hoag, Loretta Kelly and Charlie Pilzer’s Hambo in the Barn

Back in the twentieth century, a lot of Scandinavians relocated from Sweden and the surrounding countries to the upper Midwest where they became farmers and shopkeepers for the most part.  Naturally they brought both their instruments and their music with … Continue reading

Posted in Music | Tagged , | Comments Off on Andrea Hoag, Loretta Kelly and Charlie Pilzer’s Hambo in the Barn

Hedningarna’s 1989-2003

Hedningarna began as a Swedish instrumental folk trio in the late 80’s. Anders Stake (now Anders Norudde) played a variety of mostly homemade fiddles, flutes, and bagpipes, Hållbus Totte Mattson played lute and hurdy-gurdy, and Björn Tollin played percussion. The … Continue reading

Posted in Music | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Hedningarna’s 1989-2003

Hedningarna’s Karelia Visa

It’s an odd thing — one of the words which keeps coming to mind when I listen to this CD is “evocative.” But that raises the question, what exactly does it evoke? And I can’t really give you an answer, … Continue reading

Posted in Music | Tagged , | Comments Off on Hedningarna’s Karelia Visa

Hedningarna’s Hedningarna 

This is the album that got the Hedningarna phenomenon going, a richly textured, darkly fascinating instrumental album by the “core” trio of Björn Tollin (frame drum, string drum, hurdy-gurdy, moraharpa), Anders Norudde (fiddle, hardanger fiddle, moraharpa, swedish bagpipe, bowed harp, … Continue reading

Tagged , , | Comments Off on Hedningarna’s Hedningarna 

Hoven Droven’s Groove

A sextet from Sweden, Hoven Droven live up to their name, which roughly translates to “Helter Skelter.” To call their music merely sprightly would be an insult; to say they are just energetic, a gross understatement. The eighteen instrumental tracks … Continue reading

Posted in Music | Tagged , | Comments Off on Hoven Droven’s Groove