As music partners of thirty years, fiddle player Nils Økland and keyboardist Sigbjørn Apeland have long explored the interface of Norwegian traditional music and improvisation. They transport us to majestic Western Norway for their Kings Place debut, with evocative music from their latest album, ‘Glimmer’.

Norway’s most celebrated Hardanger fiddler player, Nils Økland has been quietly forging new paths in traditionally rooted music for the last 35 years. His distinctive music bridges the worlds of traditional folk and contemporary, forging links between the ancient and modern, written and improvised.

The Hardanger’s plaintive, mourning sound, enhanced by its resonating strings, carries the listener to the high mountains of Norway and their majestic nature.

Økland’s new album, Glimmer, a collaboration with keyboardist Sigbjørn Apeland, takes Norwegian folk music as its starting point. Apeland’s collection of pieces from local singers who have helped to keep the traditions alive forms the basis of the repertoire, along with original compositions. The combination of Økland’s Hardanger fiddle and Apeland’s harmonium is hugely evocative.

Much of the music on Glimmer is related to the area of Western Norway where Økland and Apeland grew up, Nord-Rogaland and Sunnhordland, a region also known as Haugalandet. In addition to the pieces collected by Apeland, the duo have also studied older transcriptions and archive recordings, improvising on this musical material.

Reviews

‘It’s very rare to encounter music as beautiful as this, that can be returned to again and again and release new pleasures every time.’ UK Jazz News on ‘Glimmer’

‘The moonlit glimmer of a Hardanger fiddle’s harmonies is one of the wonders of music, but though Nils Økland’s mastery of Norway’s home-grown instrument often surfaces in themes that sound like folk songs, he draws on psychedelic rock trances, improv, classical music, and jazz.’ The Guardian on Nils Økland

‘It’s like the music comes out of the earth manifesting itself by way of two musicians channeling its power and importance, thereby retelling old and new stories through the captivating music they play.’ UK Vibe on ‘Glimmer’