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Frode Haltli releases \u00abAvant Folk II\u00bb, the follow-up to \u00abAvant Folk\u00bb (2018). The group often is an all-star cast of some of Norway\u2019s most innovative and creative musicians, spanning different generations and genres. The new studioalbum builds upon music originally commissioned for the festival Vossa Jazz in Norway 2019.<\/p>\n
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The Hubro release \u00abAvant Folk II\u00bb follows Frode Haltli\u2019s \u00abAvant Folk\u00bb from 2018, an album that received acclaim both in Norway and abroad – \u00abA fascinating and darkly lovely experience\u00bb<\/em> according to Peter Bacon in the London Jazz News. The ensemble has since then played a number of international festivals, and has earned a reputation as a vital and solid live band. The music on the new album was commissioned by Vossa Jazz in 2019, and Joseph Woodard in All About Jazz stated:<\/p>\n – \u00abBy my biased account, Haltli<\/em>\u2019s mesmerizing and newly-commissioned set, for a ten-piece ensemble including Hardanger fiddle player Erlend Apneseth and conventional violin, horns (with saxophonist Rolf-Erik Nystr<\/em>\u00f8<\/em>m, also in Haltli<\/em>\u2019s juicy cool band POING), was the most memorable show of the festival.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n When Frode Haltli founded Avant Folk in 2017, it was to continue his work in the outskirts of folk, this time with a mini big band: Drums, bass, two guitars, two winds, two fiddlers, organ, and himself on the accordion. The ensemble has a distinguished and recognisable sound that blends acoustic and electric instruments, with musical inspiration from past and present:<\/p>\n – \u00abI have worked across established genres through many years now. I\u2019ve done everything from complex scores in contemporary music to jazz and traditional music. In Avant Folk we use processes from folk music: I present a simple material to start with, that all musicians learn by ear. This way, without any scores at all, we all get a common feel of the phrasing and the rhythms, with flexibility and freedom in further elaboration of the musical material.\u00bb <\/em><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n The tunes:<\/strong><\/p>\n Doggerland<\/strong> is an archaeological term for the Dogger Bank, the sandbank just below sea level in the North Sea between Norway and the UK. During the last ice age, the bank was populated, and a hypothetical folk song from Doggerland should sound like a mix of Norwegian and Irish music, right? \u00abTrack number two, <\/em>Nordlys<\/strong> (northern lights), is based upon a musical theme I wrote in 2014 for the German road movie Nordland. The opening features Hildegunn \u00d8iseth on the trumpet, but the instrumentation and the mood change course during the 10 minutes long track. A dreamy piece of music, a travelogue which ends in a minimalist musical landscape \u00bb <\/em><\/p>\n \u00abThe third track<\/em> Gravberget<\/strong> is probably the closest to traditional Norwegian music on this album. Gravberget is a tiny village very close to where I grew up, a couple of hours northeast of Oslo. These vast forest areas are called the Finnish woods, after Finnish immigration in the 17th century. The rhythm of the local \u00abpols dance\u00bb is asymmetrical, with a short third beat, and composed <\/em>Gravberget in this style. But when we use the traditional rhythm in a band format, I guess it may sound like West African music, or music from elsewhere, especially when Oddrun Lilja takes the music to unknown heights in a psychedelic electric guitar solo! The tune ends where it started: Fiddle player Erlend Apneseth finger picks the rhythm on two Hardanger fiddles simultaneously.\u00bb <\/em><\/p>\n \u00ab<\/em>I \u00d8sten som i Vesten (All over the Place)<\/strong> rounds off the album. The first part of the title translates something like \u00abin the East as in the West\u00bb, and the theme sounds like an old Norwegian trad song – or an Arabic maqam, depending on who\u2019s listening! The two independent melodies of the tune both uses scales with microtones in a given system. Despite the use of traditional tonalities, the result is rather unheard-of.\u00bb <\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Frode Haltli releases \u00abAvant Folk II\u00bb, the follow-up to \u00abAvant Folk\u00bb (2018). The group of ten is an all-star cast of some of Norway\u2019s most innovative and creative musicians, spanning different generations and genres. The new studio album builds upon music originally commissioned for the festival Vossa Jazz in Norway 2019.<\/strong><\/p>\n
\n\u00abIt may sound like that when we play it, but when you really get into the rhythm of this catchy tune, a sudden change appears and you get thrown out into the deep sea together with synth wizard St\u00e5le Storl\u00f8kken and sax player Rolf-Erik Nystr\u00f8m. Fiddle player Hans P. Kjorstad comes along and guides us further down in this abstract undersea music, with his personal mix of archaic Nordic music and something very modern. Luckily, he is also the one who takes us back to the theme and brings us safely up on the shore again.\u00bb <\/em><\/p>\n