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äsen is a group of four of Sweden's best musicians who have, between them, been featured with dozens of Swedish and international groups, ranging from nyckelharpa orchestras and Swedish traditional bands to the Kronos Quartet and the chart-topping folk-rock band Nordman. Väsen's music is a uniquely beautiful combination of the traditional sounds of the viola and nyckelharpa (a keyed fiddle unique to Sweden), and the more modern sounds of alternatively tuned 12-string guitar and percussion ensemble. Combining jazz, classical, dance, and folk elements, Väsen manages at once to be delicate and intensely energetic.
Väsen began when founding members, nyckelharpist Olov Johansson and violist Mikael Marin, met as teenagers in 1980 and began to play together. In 1989, they hooked up with guitarist Roger Tallroth in Roros, Norway. The three played all night, and in the early morning hours of the next day when they finished were offered a record contract by the Swedish label Drone. The resulting first album was actually released under Johansson's name and entitled Väsen, but when fans began mistakenly calling Drone asking about Väsen the group, the musicians realized that the name had established itself and decided to refer to themselves as Väsen from then on. Drummer Andre Ferrari joined Väsen as an occasional member in 1994 while they were on tour with Nordman. By 1996 he had become a permanent member of the group.
In the mid-'90s, Drone would release three more Väsen albums, highlights of which were released as a single volume on NorthSide, Spirit. This 1997 album was their American debut. 1997's Whirled, also put out by NorthSide, garnered a lot of critical attention and helped introduce Väsen to the American public. Gront, the band's sixth album, was released in 1999.
Olov Johansson and Mikael Marin started playing together as teenagers around 1980. During the early 1980's they would regularly visit Curt and Ivar Tallroth and Eric Sahlström, older musicians who lived nearby in the Uppland region, where they would play and learn traditional music from them. In this way they became a link in the living tradition that Swedish folk music has enjoyed through the centuries.
In 1989, at a music gathering in Røros, Norway, Olov met Roger Tallroth and asked if he would like to try to jam on nyckelharpa and guitar for a bit. Roger declined, intent at that moment on taking a shower. Fortunately, the shower was occupied, so Roger returned with his guitar, and they played for the rest of the day and far into the night. Among the witnesses to this fateful jam session was Olle Paulsson, who thought it was the best music he had ever heard, and made a promise to start a record label if they were willing to be recorded for a CD (and thus Drone Music was born).
The following summer Olov became World Champion of both the modern chromatic and older historical nyckelharpas at the first-ever Nyckelharpa World Championships at Österbybruk, Sweden. The added momentum for the first CD recording, which was entitled "Olov Johansson: Väsen." Väsen is a Swedish word with many meanings: spirit, noise, a living being, essence among the most prominent. It was originally meant to just be an album title, but soon people were calling to book the band "Väsen" and the name stuck.
Initially some traditionalists (or something else, it wasn't many at all ) in the Swedish folkmusic community showed some resistance to Väsen. While Olov and Mikael were playing fairly straightforward folkmusic duets, Roger's guitar definitely provided a different twist on Swedish traditional music. Yet it's exactly the guitar chordings and rhythms that also attracted an entirely new audience, and the band's popularity gradually grew, along with their international reputation.
In 1994, with two more studio albums under their belt ("Vilda Väsen" on Drone and "Essence" on the French Auvidis/Ethnic label), Väsen were asked to participate on a project of Swedish rock musician Mats Wester called "Nordman," which featured rock music and lyrics but with arrangements and playing by Väsen. The first Nordman CD was a huge hit in Sweden, and the band embarks on two tours and records a second Nordman CD, playing in front of audiences of up to 25,000 people. On the first Nordman tour they meet drummer André Ferrari and eventually experiment with a drums-and-bass version of Väsen. Ultimately, they settle on André playing hand percussion, and the band officially becomes a quartet in 1996.
In 1997 the quartet goes into the studio and records "Varldens Väsen" ("Whirled" in North America). Tours of Norway, Denmark, Finland, Italy, France, the United States and Canada follow, as does a Swedish grammy and two appearances on the national radio program "A Prairie Home Companion" in the U.S. In 1999 the band releases their sixth CD, "Gront."
Meanwhile the members of the band were getting older, having babies and facing the challenges of being a musician in the modern age. A widespread U.S. tour in September 2001 had to be scrapped after 9/11. Although the tour was rescheduled for 2002, André's reluctance to tour and economics forced the band to decide to come over as the original trio. The success and pleasure of playing a new set of trio material culminated in this new recording.
So for now Väsen exists as two distinct ensembles: the original trio, and as a quartet with percussionist Ferrari (or his traveling replacement Fredrik Gille). For the converted Väsenheads, it's Best Band in the World #1 and Best Band in the World #2!
Olov Johansson » nyckelharpa
In 1990, Olov became the first world champion of the nyckelharpa. He began to play the nyckelharpa in 1980 as a fourteen-year old, and was named a 'riksspelman' (master musician) in 1984. Olov has studied with the legendary Curt Tallroth and Erik Sahlström. He is regarded as one of Sweden's most prominent nyckelharpa players, and is an inspiration for numerous young performers on the instrument. He is teaching regularly at the Eric Sahlström Institutet.
Apart from his association with Väsen, Olov has also played with groups such as Kronos Quartet, the Nyckelharpa Orchestra, as well as solo performances. He has also recorded and toured with the chart-topping Swedish rock group Nordman, and has played on the albums Early Music (with Kronos Quartet) and his solo project, Storsvarten (released on NorthSide).
Mikael Marin » viola
Mikael is a violist who isn't satisfied with merely playing "second fiddle." His influences are literally unlimited in their scope, and oscillate between Schöenberg and the Beatles. He became a national fiddler in 1983, and was chosen to play in a world orchestra under the direction of Leonard Bernstein in 1989.
When not performing with Väsen, he composes, produces, and arranges music for artists such as Mikael Samuelsson, Nordman, and Kronos Quartet. He composed (together with Mats Wester) the opening music to the World Police and Fire Games in Stockholm, 1999.
Mikael can be heard on several recordings, for example Nordman (with Nordman), Barfota (with Mikael Samuelsson), Ånon (with Ånon Egeland, released on NorthSide), and Flow my Tears (with The Forge Players).
Roger Tallroth » guitar
With his specially tuned guitar (A-D-A-D-A-D), Roger has developed a distinctive sound of his own. In addition to the guitar, he plays the Swedish bouzoki and octave mandolin. Roger received his first guitar when he was thirteen. Since then, he has studied at Sjövik Folkhögskola and Örebro. He has about 50 followers throughout the world using his tuning, a number still growing. He has given numerous seminars around Europe and the US. Roger has performed together with Nordman, Annbjørg Lien, and the Gunnel Mauritzson Group, among other artists, and has also participated in several stage and theater productions.
Catriona McKay & Olov Johansson - Foogy
2009 Studio album
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Label: Own Label; OJM009; 2009; 62 min
The nyckelharpa is rare even in its native Sweden, but suddenly we're inundated with recordings of it. I must have reviewed three this year already, which is a good thing: there's an "Angels & Demons" heavenly duality to this instrument which I love. Olov Johansson usually plays his nyckelharpa with Swedish folk stars Våsen, but here he's joined by innovative Shetland harper Catrion McKay for an album of big, earthy, Nordic music. The mood is more Scandinavian than Celtic, but not unlike the darker moments of Liz Doherty, Mary Custy, or Aly Bain's forays into Swedish folk. A generous dozen tracks at around five minutes each means there's plenty to enjoy on Foogy, from Olov's First Class to Glasgow to Catriona's Stolen Watch Reel.
Among a dozen or so of their own compositions, Olov and Catriona play traditional tunes from Sweden, Shetland and Scotland. There's a lovely version of Da Shaalds o' Foula a classic Shetland tune which Catriona learnt from fiddler Chris Stout. A charming old polska from Småland sits well with Catriona's Early Sun Polska. Olov's composition Astrids Vals and the traditional Swedish Byss-Calle Vals show the range and power of the nyckelharpa, not to mention Ms McKay's taste for way-out harmonies. Catriona's modern harping comes to the fore in The Harper's Dismissal, a tune from legendary Gaelic harper Rory Morrison. The two instruments complement each other beautifully throughout this album, producing a full and rich sound which is as ancient as the tradition with the freshness of today's young virtuoso musicians. The CD packaging is also striking, with colourful graphics and informative notes. Shame about the title, but hey, nobody's perfect!
TrackList:
01. 1st Class To Glasgow - 4:14
02. Rain / Ekoln - 7:50
03. Höök - 3:41
04. The Dundee Law Set - 5:03
05. Mr. Fish - 5:38
06. Stout’s Trip / Olov’s Polska - 5:12
07. Astrids Vals - 3:25
08. The Harper’s Dismissal - 4:28
09. Early Sun Polska - 3:58
10. Byss-Calle Vals - 4:37
11. In The Castle - 3:52
12. Toker / Korrö - 3:46
13. The Foogy Set - 6:25
mp3 >256kbps vbr | w/ scans | 106mb
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