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Boda spelmanslag
Låtar på Bodamål
GCD-3
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Boda Spelmanslag in 2003, Giga is
offering a choice delicacy. In 1979 the LP "Låtar på Bodamål" was released.
Now this record is being re-released on CD. In addition to the tracks which
were on the first edition there are another ten fantastic Boda tunes which
were recorded at the time, but for which there was room on the LP.
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Nils Agenmark
GCD-12
Music with roots in the fiddlers' village of Bingsjö, coloured by Nils
Agenmark's intense temperament. Agenmark was the son of Hjort
Anders Olsson's daughter, and in his youth he had lessons from his
grandfather - an exacting teacher. But Agenmark was stubbornly
determined to explore new paths and develop his own style. His
fantasies about how the legendary 19th century Bingsjö fiddler Pekkos
Per might have sounded provided an impetus for his daily playing.
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Pers Hans Olsson plays his own tunes
Frihetens Långdans (The Freedom Long-dance)
GCD-13
Pers Hans inherited a rich musical legacy from his home district of Rättvik.
To this he has added many of his own compositions which bear evidence both
of tradition and of innovation - and which give a more complete picture of this
forceful fiddler. Here are the tunes he wrote for his two daughters, for his
father and grandfather (both of whom were leading fiddlers) and for his colleagues,
as well as the stately Östbjörka Bridal Tune and the Freedom Long-dance.
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Kalle Almlöf and Jonny Soling
Hopspelt (Getting Together)
GCD-14
On every one of the twenty tracks on this CD it's obvious how much these two
fiddlers enjoy playing together. Some are new compositions, but the majority are
traditional tunes from the regions of Österdalarna and Västerdalarna. Since the 1970s
Kalle from Malung and Jonny from Orsa have played together on tours and worked
together at numerous fiddlers' courses and in their daily lives as folk music teachers
at the Malung Folk High School. When they get together with their fiddles there is
ample room for new ideas.
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Simon Simonsson's quartet plays tunes from Älvdalen
Längs gamla stigar och färdevägar (Along Old Paths and Horse-tracks)
GCD-15
Twisting tunes from a region dominated by dense forests, huge mountains and the
beautiful Älvdalen river. The quartet is made up of Simon Simonsson and Ola
Bäckström (fiddles), Ale Möller (bousouki, mouth organ and willow pipe) and
Stefan Ekedahl (cello, bagpipes). The CD is a tribute to the self-willed Evertsberg
fiddler Ekor Anders, and demonstrates a way of expressing his musical ideas with a
broader sonority than can be produced just with fiddles.
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Ole Hjorth
Hjort Anders Tunes
GCD-16
Ole Hjorths professional career has been devoted to the violin - as an orchestral
musician, teacher and fiddler. It was Hjort Anders who first aroused Ole's interest
in the instrument. Ole studied with him for eight years in his youth and since then
the Hjort Anders tunes have been Ole's dear companion. A large part of this CD is
devoted to a part of Hjort-Anders' repertoire that is less well-known, slow ballad-like
tunes which are Ole's absolute favourites.
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Kungs Levi Nilsson
GCD-17
Kungs Levi's fiddle-playing is a subtle combination of order and fantasy. It is pure
in style and well-controlled, with crystal-clear trills and robust tone. But when he
plays the tunes from his home district of Siljansnäs and the neighbouring regions of
Leksand and Rättvik, it's the ingenious musical story-teller who comes to the fore.
A record where dance rhythms (mostly polskas) are interspersed with marching-tunes,
herding tunes and ballads.
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Lars Hökpers and Matts Arnberg
with Sven and Sören Roos
Tillman Tunes
GCD-18
Tillman Tunes gives us an insight into the strong, distinctive fiddling tradition of a
relatively small region. The master fiddler Olof Tillman from Dala-Floda passed on
the tunes to his sons, together with his extrovert, dance-like style of playing, and
they in their turn became models for Lars, Matts, Sven and Sören when they began
to search for their musical roots in their teens. Want to hear a swinging hager waltz
in 2/4 time? Listen to the Tillman tunes!
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Mats Berglund
GCD-19
Music from the borderland between Värmland in Sweden and Hedmark in Norway.
In this "realm of the elk", as the Värmland poet Bengt Berg called it, folk music
roams at will, oblivious of country borders - just like the king of the forest. Mats
Berglund has the same open approach and interprets the fiddle tunes from this
region in his own, highly personal way. There are also some new compositions on
this CD, based on traditional tunes, that were written for the stage version of
Selma Lagerlöf's Gösta Berling's Story.
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Per Gudmundson
GCD-20
The tunes from Rättvik form the base of fiddler Per Gudmundson's repertoire.
He can usually be heard in the folk group Frifot together with Lena Willemark and
Ale Möller, but on this solo album Per presents his own versions of several splendid
tunes from Rättvik's rich musical heritage. "My exaggerated respect for tradition
has gradually turned into a strong feeling of joy in learning to master a language,
a language rich in nuance, colour and expression", says Per.
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Ola Bäckström
with Hans Röjås, Carina Normansson, Stefan Ekedahl and Björn Tollin
GCD-21
An album which shows the breadth of fiddler Ola Bäckström's musicianship.
Traditional tunes from his home region of Ore are combined with ingenious tunes
that he has made up himself. Nine of the numbers feature Ola on his own, sometimes
he plays an accompanying part on the fiddle, sometimes he plays bouzouki or guitar
with the group. Hans Röjås and Carina Normansson play the fiddle, Stefan Ekedahl
plays bagpipes and cello, Björn Tollin plays the tambourine.
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Hjort Anders Olsson
GCD-22, 23, 24
Hjort Anders Olsson (1865-1952) from Bingsjö was one of the greatest fiddlers of the
20th century. His colourful life and unique fiddle-playing are shown off to full
advantage in Giga's CD box. A Swedish "old man blues", as someone once called him.
An important part of Sweden's musical history, at all events. The box (3 CDs) contains
all the professional recordings of Hjort Anders, 76 tunes in all, as well as a long radio
documentary from 1950. A 40-page booklet provides an exhaustive commentary on the
fiddler's life, on tradition, technique and the tunes themselves. The recordings were
made between 1917 and 1952.
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Pers Hans Olsson and Björn Ståbi
GCD-25
More than any other fiddlers today, Pers Hans and Björn Ståbi personify the strong
status of two-part fiddling in the Swedish fiddlers' tradition. The first time they played
together in 1963 the sparks flew - and they're still flying! This is their second joint CD,
which appeared 25 years after their first knock-out success, Bockfot. Hans usually
plays the melody and Björn plays the second part. Some of the tunes are played as
a solo. Except for a couple of numbers, the tunes are in the Rättvik and Orsa tradition.
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Rättvik Spelmanslag 50 Years
GCD-26
The fiddlers' club or spelmanslag is an important meeting-point for fiddlers in
many parts of Dalecarlia. The first fiddlers' group was formed in Rättvik in 1944,
and thanks to the Rättvik Spelmanslag this form of playing together soon caught on.
The sound of several fiddlers playing together was new and attracted large audiences.
Today there is still a large interest in the fiddlers' group and there is certainly no lack
of new members. No fewer than 49 fiddlers took part in this jubilee CD, on which
tunes are sometimes played by the whole fiddlers' group, sometimes by smaller groups.
There are also several solo numbers featuring the fiddlers Sparf Anders, Pers Hans
Olsson, Per Gudmundson and Anders Bjernulf.
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Jonny Soling
GCD-27
Jonny Soling is an important model for present-day Swedish folk musicians in two
senses - firstly as a fiddler with a special fondness for the tunes from Orsa, Bingsjö
and Rättvik and secondly, as the teacher of hundreds of pupils at high schools, fiddlers'
courses and his own one-year folk music course at the Malung Folk High School. On
his first solo album Jonny's playing is inspired by his own models - Nils Agenmark,
Pål Olle and Gössa Anders. He also presents a couple of his own compositions.
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Päkkos Gustaf and Ole Hjorth
GCD-28
The village of Bingsjö has a special place in the hearts of Swedish folk music lovers,
both for the huge fiddlers' rally which takes place there every summer and, above all,
for its unique musical heritage, which today is preserved by farmer and fiddler Päkkos
Gustaf. This CD was released in time for Gustaf's 80th birthday on the 8th March,
1996. Gustaf's fiddle-playing is full of temperament. On eight of the tracks he plays
on his own, on the other nineteen Ole Hjorth provides the second part - all the tunes
are in the Bingsjö tradition.
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Agneta Stolpe (vocal) with Ola Bäckström (fiddle, bousouki, guitar),
Per Gudmundson (fiddle), Lars-Urban Helje (double bass)
Anaros
GCD-29
A much longed-for CD with Agneta Stolpe, one of the most important names in
Swedish folk song. She is backed by fiddlers Ola Bäckström and Per Gudmundson
and jazz bassist Lars-Urban Helje. Agneta¹s warm voice invites us to listen to
several beautiful, melancholy ballads as well as playful songs and some of her
own compositions. The result is an exciting mixture of music in traditional style
and completely new worlds of sound.
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Kalle Almlöf
Lejsmelåtar (Lejsme Tunes)
GCD-30
Lejsme Tunes is devoted entirely to the repertoire of one of the legendary fiddlers
of the 19th century, famous both in Dalecarlia and in Värmland. Lejsme Per Larsson's
circumstances were meagre and he lived in the poor people's area of the Malung
forest, but he left a rich heritage of tunes. This is proved beyond all doubt when
the triplet polskas and fast waltzes are brought back to life by a master fiddler of
our own time, Kalle Almlöf from Malung.
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Susanne Rosenberg
Ulrika Bodén, Karin Holdar, Eva Rune, Sven Ahlbäck, Mikael Marin,
Annika Wijnbladh
Uppå marmorns höga berg (On the High Marble Mountain)
GCD-31
Swedish folk songs sung in parts in exciting arrangements with a backing of fiddle, viola
and cello. Susanne Rosenberg has pioneered the Swedish folk song tradition. In particular
she has explored the repertoire of the province of Gästrikland, which is where all the
songs on this CD come from - ballads, love songs, herding songs and one or two comic
songs. A very varied CD, ranging from solos by Susanne to songs played and sung by the
whole septet.
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Simon and Olle Simonsson, Kjell-Erik Eriksson
Drängkammarlåtar (Farm-hand Tunes)
GCD-32
Music that was in fashion among country people in Sweden at the beginning of this
century. Simon and Kjell-Erik (he can also be heard in the Hoven Droven group) play
the fiddle as well as Simon's brother Olle, who also plays the accompaniment on zither
and guitar. Most of the tunes come from the fiddlers from Älvdalen in Dalecarlia and
Offerdal in Jämtland. The music, together with Simon's commentaries in the booklet,
provide a glimpse of a world that not many people are familiar with nowadays. How
about the "flat jump", for instance, a dance that was considered so immoral that it
was forbidden in certain dance halls!
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Erik Björkman
Svärdsjö Spelmanslag
GCD-33
In the mid-1800s Svartnäs in Svärdsjö Finnmark was a lively community with one of
the largest iron foundries in Sweden. The village was also a musical centre, with such
legendary fiddlers as Vingel Anders and Sammil Gustaf. When Erik Björkman was born
in 1906 Svartnäs was still full of life and music. He learnt the Svartnäs tunes and passed
them on to the Svärdsjö fiddlers' group. Here the fiddlers' group can be heard, as well
as Erik on his own, in polskas, waltzes and some Svartnäs songs.
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Perjos Lars Halvarsson and Mattias Helje
GCD-34
Lars and Mattias have brought new life to the old traditions from Lima. Both are smiths
and fiddlers and they live a stone¹s throw from each other in the village of Heden. Lars
and Mattias have developed a fresh approach to playing together and are much in demand
at dances. This is their début on record with tunes after the great Lima fiddlers of bygone
times, such as Sjungar Lars, Perbjörs Erik and Kvarnmyr Lars.
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Björn Ståbi
Orsa Tunes
GCD-35
Björn Ståbi has made many records, the earliest date from the late 1960s, but this is
his first solo album. It is entirely devoted to the music from Orsa, the fiddle tunes that
have accompanied him since childhood. It was Björn himself who decided to wait so
long before making his first solo record: "I haven't felt ready to play some of these
tunes until now. They are developing all the time and in my opinion this has led to
greater simplicity", Björn said when he made this record in 1996.
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Ellika Frisell with Sven Ahlbäck and Mats Edén
Tokpolska (Crazy Polska)
GCD-36
Ellika found herself at the centre of a playful experiment with Swedish folk music
when she played in such groups as Filarfolket and Den fule. At the same time she
was searching for an archaic style of fiddle-playing, with a fresh, rough-hewn quality.
She found what she was looking for when she heard the old fiddlers - Gössa Anders,
Nils Agenmark and Päkkos Gustaf. And that is why a large part of Ellika's record
is devoted to the tunes from Orsa and Bingsjö. Here she plays on her own and
also together with Sven Ahlbäck, fiddle and Mats Edén, fiddle and viola.
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Pers Hans Olsson
Låtar inifrån (Tunes from the Heart)
GCD-37
With clarity and power in his playing and rich warmth of tone, Pers Hans takes the
listener on a round trip of the region of Rättvik - a journey in time and space with
the tunes and fiddlers that influenced him in his youth. He takes us on a visit to his
father Pers Erik in Östbjörka, to Blank Kalle in Blecket, to Börjes Olle from Lerdal,
Perols Gudmund in Gärdebyn and Jones Olof in Backa. These fiddlers gave Pers Hans
new inspiration on the fiddle and started him off on a career as fiddler which was
crowned in 1993 with the Zorn Gold Medal "for masterly and expressive playing in
the Rättvik tradition.
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Kungs Levi Nilsson, Saras Göte Alfredsson, Alm Nils Ersson,
Kjell-Olov Nilsson
All den kärlek (All The Love)
GCD-38
Thanks to these four fiddlers from Siljansnäs, an almost totally neglected legacy
of tunes has been rescued from oblivion and given a new lease of life. This exciting
music with its distinctive rhythmic displacements that they rescued from the depths
of the archives is known as the "Leksand's Dance", a variant of the polska which
was the commonest dance in the district until the mid-1800s. The latest tunes that
accompanied the dance were preserved in transcriptions in the early 1900s after
such fiddlers as Roligs Per and Skommar Anders.
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Mats Berglund
Gränslandslåtar (Tunes from the Borderlands)
GCD 39
Mats Berglund, well-known fiddle-player from the province of Värmland, is one
of the most talented Swedish folk-musicians. His popularity as a dance musician
has helped him create his own personal style of play. In "Gränslandslåtar"
(Tunes from the Borderlands) Mats plays both solo and, in duo, with Göran Håkansson,
Fredrik Lundberg and Anders Nordlöf. Most of the tunes on this CD are polska dance
tunes with the asymmetrical rhythm that is typical for this geographical and cultural
border country of Swedish Värmland and Norwegian Hedmark.
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