Kim Nyberg (mandolin), Rasmus Krøyer (clarinet), Niels Skovmand (violin), Aske Jacoby (bass), Rune Kofoed (drums) Afenginn's musical universe spans as widely as the antlers of a full-grown elk. The mongrel band was formed in 2002 by a flock of young musicians with a love of the Nordic humppa and polka tradition, as well as East European sounds in the form of klezmer and gypsy music. Finnish mandolinist Kim Nyberg is the group's leader, and composes almost all of their music. The group is inquisitive, playful and imaginative and takes an anarchic approach to traditional musical structures. Their compositions range from lyrical, picturesque and programme music-like pieces – of which the "Elk Suite" is a fine example – to jagged up-tempo numbers in odd time signatures, always with the special rhythmic and melodic finesse which characterises Afenginn. Their own term for the band’s musical style is "Bastard Ethno". By the time they released their second album, ‘Akkrobakkus’, the band had already excited audiences at more than 200 performances, including concerts given under the name "Afenginn in Symphony" with the Lyngby-Taarbæk Symphony Orchestra. The group was founded in a period of growing popularity for Nordic and Balkan music in Denmark, but at a time when there were relatively few bands around who actually mastered these genres. Afenginn's extremely informal and devil-may-care attitude to the music, with joi de vivre and high-octane energy taking pride of place, went down well with audiences. The release of ‘Retrograd’ won them the CD of the Year prize at the 2005 Danish World Awards, and the band was also nominated for ‘Akkrobakkus’ in the following year. Afenginn has received rave reviews in both the Danish and foreign press, and in 2006 they were chosen to be one of eight ensembles to represent Danish music abroad in the project ‘Danish Roots’. The group's bassist, Andrzej Krejniuk, left the group in 2006 to study at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory in Copenhagen. His replacement came as a surprise to many, and perhaps even to the band itself: it was the versatile guitarist Aske Jacoby. By Mikkel Hornnes This article was produced in co-operation with the periodical Djembe: www.djembe.dk

Afenginn was formed in Copenhagen in 2001 Latest album: Akkrobakkus (2006) Other releases:  Retrograd (2004) Tivoli Invalid (EP, 2003) Web: www.afenginn.dk