Fiddlefreak Folk Music Blog » Scandinavian

Ruthie Dornfeld: Duets Abroad (MP3)

Stuart Mason — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 16:08:23 +0000

Ruthie Dornfeld

The latest record from Seattle fiddler Ruthie Dornfeld is a wide-ranging collection of traditional folk tunes, originals, and early music titled “Duets Abroad.” Why not let Ruthie introduce it?

Duets Abroad

Last year I traveled to Finland, Denmark, France and Hungary to record duets with some of my favorite European musicians: Petri Hakala, Tapani Varis, Pekka Pentikäinen, Jouko Kyhälä, Morten Alfred Høirup, Patrick Desaunay, and Balázs Dongó Szokolay. The music covers quite a range – traditional tunes, some originals, and a bit of early music. I play both violin and vielle (medieval fiddle) in duets with bagpipe, shepherd flute, jaw harp, accordion, mandolin, guitar, singing bowls — it’s an adventure!

Here are two samples: the first a Finnish polska with Petri Hakala on octave mandolin, the second an American fiddle tune with Petri on mandolin. Brilliant!

LISTEN: Savioja’s Polska

LISTEN: Garfield’s Blackberry Blossom

Artist Website HERE

Väsen Street (MP3)

Stuart Mason — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 16:39:53 +0000

Väsen

Swedish folk supergroup Väsen will release Väsen Street (NorthSide) on August 18, 2009. Olov Johansson (nyckelharpa), Roger Tallroth (guitar) and Mikael Marin (viola) have toured together for 20 years and are celebrating the milestone with this new recording. The repertoire here consists of newly composed material, old Väsen favorites not recorded earlier, and some traditional Uppland tunes. In the past they have collaborated with American string wizards Darol Anger and Mike Marshall, and sure enough Mike appears here on the six-minute track “Absolute Swedish.”

Väsen Street

This is the band that I’ve heard introduced as the “best band in the world,” and I can’t argue with the claim. They have a unique stage dynamic that ranges from traditional folk to elements of jazz and classical, from dark and deep to light and whimsical. The combination of nyckelharpa—the traditional keyed fiddle of Sweden—with five-string viola and 12-string guitar (tuned ADADAD) creates the mind-bending Väsen sound. As complex as a concerto and as simple as an Irish jig, the music of Väsen soothes and challenges the listener at the same time. This record rewards repeated listening. Fiddlefreak recommended!

LISTEN: Rob’s Polska (MP3)

LISTEN: Garageschottis (MP3)

WATCH: Väsen perform “Väsen Street”

WEB SITE

FACEBOOK

REVERBNATION

MYSPACE

Blue Moose and the Unbuttoned Zippers (MP3)

Stuart Mason — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 01:19:30 +0000

This past weekend was my Annual Desktop Clearance, and what do you think I found buried deep amid the soggy beer coasters, coffee-stained music store receipts, and fuzzy spiders? The three-track demo CD from the Boston-based neo-trad fiddle outfit that calls itself Blue Moose and the Unbuttoned Zippers, which I had picked up almost a year ago at Folk Alliance in Memphis. I ran into them again at NERFA (New York) in November, where we all had some righteous tune jammage in the hotel lobby.

Blue Moose and the Unbuttoned Zippers

If you’re into American-Scandinavian-Celtic fiddle music played with exuberance and skill (and who isn’t?) then BMUZ is the band for you. Watch out for these guys in the future: Andy Reiner and Mariel Vandersteel on fiddles, Bronwyn Bird on nyckelharpa, and Stash Wyslouch on guitar.

They say a tune is worth a thousand words. That’s what I say anyway. Listen up y’all, then fall on your knees, and pray. Pray that they will shorten the name of this killer band!

MP3: Burbank Street

MP3: Lost in Lowell/Fiddle Woody Jones

MP3: The Saucy Sailor

Web links: BMUZ Web Site or MySpace