By Michael Sommer

Danish folk music has attracted a lot of interest abroad over the past few years, particularly following focused efforts on the part of the Danish Folk Council (FFS). But what do people in other countries really think about our folk music? Here is a selection of clippings from reviews of Danish folk music CDs in a number of foreign folk music magazines. It turns out that Danish folk music has made a very good impression among the critics. Danish folk music attracts interest Danish folk music is beginning to attract interest in the wider world. This is particularly due to the determined efforts of the Danish Folk Council over a number of years, but is of course also due to the fact that the musicians send their new recordings for review, market themselves at festivals, etc. You can't get interested in something you've never heard! A number of foreign magazines have run major articles on Danish folk music or on individual artists, mostly Haugaard and Høirup. The American magazine Global Rhythm actually published a theme issue on Danish folk music … and included much more about Denmark, such as its architecture, art and Tivoli. This article concentrates on what music reviewers have said about Danish folk music CDs over the last two years or so.		The magazine fROOTS often reviews Danish CD releases.
Clippings from magazines The article is based on everything I could find about Danish folk music in the Swedish, English and German-language magazines to which I had access. The sources are listed at the end of the article. So as not to make the extracts illegible with quotation marks, spaces and dots, I have edited and reproduced the text's most important viewpoints, and have included evaluations rather than factual information. The sources are given in each case, so interested persons can gain access to the original reviews. The label and number of each CD is also given, as well as the issue of Folk & Musik in which it is reviewed in Danish.
Baltinget: Classic (GO 0103 – F&M December 2003) Danish Baltinget is a swinging dance band. They play Danish music, but with an Irish influence in the form of jigs and reels found in Danish sheet music manuscripts. Most of this CD consists of traditional music, beautifully played with finesse and imagination. (Peter Ahlbom, Spelmannen 1·2004) Here we have something to learn. It produces such richness to be able to use, not just music, but also dance as a way of being together. (Siv Ekström, Fiolen Min 4/2003) A warm and inviting collection of Danish traditional dance tunes from innovative fiddle, accordion, guitar, double bass and percussion quintet, Baltinget. Their approach to arranging traditional tunes is fresh and invigorating, seamlessly blending Cajun, Spanish and jazz influences into the mix. A natural feel for light and shade takes them on an emotional rollercoaster through slow, beautiful melodies such as the melancholic Falken (written by Baltinget’s guitarist Klaus Ravnsborg), to uplifting, energetic dances. (Sofi Mogensen, fROOTS May 2004) There is something of the music of the English folk dance scene of thirty years ago in Baltinget.  This Danish quintet's album, Classic, has the same kind of acoustic feel, not just in the arrangements but also in the playing. The accordion, the bass, the fiddle, the percussion all bring to mind early Albion Country Band, maybe even Oak and Swan Arcade. But Baltinget is not a retro-folk group.  Here are five musicians who play in the here-and-now, allowing influences of other genres to have an effect: a touch of swing, a little rock, a smattering of classical and more. The melody lines are played by fiddler Tove de Fries along with Jesper Vinther Petersen on accordion and harmonica. At times, they match each other note for note, but here and there one musician or other wanders off with an inventive ornamentation or harmony line that enhances the overall sound exquisitely. A tight accompaniment allows the band to develop a living, dancing sound throughout the album.  Peter Marquand Sejersen adds a strong foundation on bass; guitarist Klaus Ravnsborg is a creative accompanist, always finding the right approach whether finger picking or strumming; and Jesper Falch plays cajon, cymbals and shakers, sounding like he is doing so much more, while never overpowering his colleagues. Baltinget has created a sound that on the one hand has a feeling of nostalgia, but on the other shows a great sense of adventure.  Here are five musicians who appear acutely aware of their strengths; while capturing the rhythms of dance, they emphasize the beauty of the tunes. (Jamie O’Brien, Rootsworld #267 2004)		Baltinget: Classic Baltinget
In the absence of useful information, this CD could almost be Norwegian. In the end it is most reminiscent of the Shetland Isles, and with a title like Reventlow Jigs, it suggests a certain cultural exchange across the sea. Lovely to listen to, but we would like to know a little more. (Gabriele Haefs, Folker! no.  3.04) One of the veterans in new Danish folk music, Baltinget have great respect for the traditional, but are not afraid to take new paths in their arrangements and their original compositions. To Norwegian ears, many Danish groups have perhaps had a tendency to let electric bass and drums dominate too much in arranged folk music. Baltinget, by contrast, have gone in the other direction on this CD, using double bass and cautious percussion. It suits the music well, and as both the melodies and the supple arrangements also function well, this is one of the best recordings of Danish folk music I have ever heard. Tove de Fries' violin is poetic and gentle with a rhythmic lilt. A melodic gem is Falken, by the accordion-player Klaus Ravnsborg. A fascinating CD, and one that will open the eyes of quite a few Norwegians to what is happening in Danish folk music. (Kjell Bitustøyl, Spelemannsbladet 2·2004)
Zar: Tusind tanker (TMS133872 – F&M October 2003)  This group has attracted a great deal of attention for their personal and highly musical approach to interpreting Danish folk music. The group's last CD, Strengeleg, made a great impression on me, and the feeling is undiminished with Tusind tanker. Sine gilds the sound with her sensitive singing voice, while Rune's violin-playing provides a firm basis. There is a freshness and energy about Zar's music which, combined with an excellent choice of melodies, makes Tusind tanker a fine musical experience and a very good Danish music export. (Micke Forsberg, Lira 2-2004) The flourishing of new interpretations of traditional Danish song takes another step forward with quintet Zar’s second CD. Swingy, inventive arrangements of songs and instrumentals, trad and new, for fiddles, piano, frets, double bass (the latter particularly rich and fluent), and singer Sine Lauritsen, who won 2004’s ‘Danish Folk Vocalist’ award for her work on this album. (fROOTS October 2004). Thumbs up! This must be what it sounds like when Danish folklore is translated into pop.  I mean this as a compliment! What's more, Sine Lauritsen could easily become a Danish Norah Jones – if she isn't already.  Tusind tanker radiates good humour and gets the feet involuntarily tapping. This is a spring record which reaches out for blooming meadows, and is redolent of fresh, light breezes and light, bright melodies. Thank you very much, Zar! (Klaus D. Zeh, Folkmagazin 2-2004)		Sine Lauritsen / Zar
de Fries & D. Beck: Balance (BAL0103 – F&M February 2004) Wow, how these girls can play. Tove de Fries plays with rhythm and nerve, while Malene D. Beck mainly plays accompaniment. There is a great interplay between these two – and it swings. (Siv Ekström, Fiolen Min 4/2003) Tove is a highly driven and skilled violinist, while Malene accompanies on piano with great sensitivity and responsiveness. You can't help but be impressed by how they approach Danish folk music with playful lightness, great musicality and delightful dance rhythms. There is a freshness in the music that does the body as much good as a cold Tuborg on a hot summer day. Great, infectious music – quite simply incredibly good. (Micke Forsberg, Lira 1-2004). Classical-traditional Danish dance music played by the duo Tove de Fries (violin) and Malene D.  Beck (piano, rarely heard nowadays in this genre in Denmark). Both are known separately on the Danish folk music scene, and now appear as a duo. (Folker! no. 4.04)		Tove de Fries (left) and Malene D. Beck
Lars Lilholt: De instrumentale (RecARt Music 5982262 – F&M April 2004) This is folk-rock of the traditional kind. All-men-to-the-pumps rock. Gas pedal on the floor, with a big Danish smile. Danish melodies from Danish tradition, played by Danish musicians. And actually really good. A little flighty perhaps, but played with good humour and fantastic joy. (Mats Palmquist, Lira 3-2004) Their approach was influenced by Fairport and other primogenitors of the folk-rock boom, but Lilholt and his band applied it to Danish dance tunes learned from fiddler Otto Trads and the notebooks of Storm, Svabo and others, at a time when such music had virtually disappeared from the consciousness of young Danes. Over the years they’ve done it with increasing sophistication. The album, bearing a dedication to Dave Swarbrick, chronicles the evolution of the band’s sound and arranging skills into today’s power. While folk-rock is often viewed as time-expired, in the hands of brand leaders it’s still a fine way to play the old tunes and have a large audience rise to them. (Andrew Cronshaw, fROOTS December 2004) I have to admit that a lot of the material on this album sounds rather dated to me, stylistically based on European folk rock from the 70s, such as Steeleye Span. The instrumentals might be fun to have as part of a concert, or as the instrumentals on a song-based CD, but on their own they are a bit much. (Michael Moll, FolkWorld 2004) Beautiful titles. How does it sound? Like folk-rock, quite simply. Why, after all these years, there doesn't seem to have been any development in the music (except perhaps that the Renaissance elements seem to have become more important for Lars Lilholt), is something I'll leave to the real professionals to discuss. In any case it sounds good – rounded and mature, and in some senses more like Five Hand Reel than the model, Fairport Convention. (Gabriele Haefs, Folker! no. 4.04)		De instrumentale (The Instrumental)
Rasmus Storm #2 (Nattergal CD03-01 – F&M February 2004) This quintet plays with warmth and joy, and the music is a charming and attractive mix of folk music and classical elements. Swinging and humorous.  (Peter Ahlbom, Spelmannen 1·2004) The group have been doing this for a long time, but are showing no signs of fatigue. Throughout, you sense their joy in communication and their great enthusiasm for the music, kept however in check by good taste and attention to tempo and dynamics. This is an entirely enchanting CD. (Åke Grandell, Fiolen Min 1/2004) A beautiful CD with Rasmus Storm's most attractive pieces. (Klaus D. Zeh, Folkmagazin 2-2004) Danes who play folk music always seem to sound as if they're having such a marvellous time. The melodies in Danish folk music make it sound as though you are singing "Hi there, I am Danish, tra-la-la and I am so happy". Sorry for being frivolous, but there is something rather smooth – indeed merry – in the Danish way of playing folk music which might risk making listeners in the rest of the Nordic countries wonder what is going on, or perhaps even ignore it. Violin, viola, cello and double bass, in particular the latter, tend to make this CD sound a bit like old-fashioned Swedish dance music. Not bad, but far from traditional. It's at its best when the musicians play more for the ears, take it easy and listen their way into the music and themselves. (Bengt Eriksson, Lira 2-2004) All those years have given the group members a natural empathy with the music and one another’s playing of it. The sound is springy and airy, and though the shapes of the tunes don’t show the off-centre rhythmic leanings of Norwegian and Swedish fiddling, there’s a dancing Scandinavian silveriness to the grace-noting. (Andrew Cronshaw, fROOTS December 2004) The music comes from old, handwritten Danish music books of the 2nd half of the 18th century. And very good it is. As an experiment, I played the CD alongside the new album from England's "Old Swan Band". Now, their album was also produced after a 20-year hiatus from the previous one. And the similarities do not end there. I found so much in common between their (what I'd previously thought to be quintessentially ENGLISH dance music) and this album of Danish tunes. Both equally enjoyable. Could not put a cigarette paper between the two. But what it sets out in doing, it succeeds in. It is LIFE-ENHANCING music: music that makes me glad I am alive. Thus it is that this album just slips into my "top 5 Folk albums" of the many Folk albums I have heard in 2004. (Dai Woosnam, FolkWorld 2004)		From Rasmus Storm's music book (c. 1760) The Rasmus Storm group comprises Michael Sommer (violin, viola), Bent Melvej (violin), Lars Lilholt (violin), Ove Andersen (violin)and Benny Simmelsgaard (bas).
Kristine Heebøll: Trio Mio (GO 0204 – F&M April 2004) Some fiddlers make CDs that are simply collections of well played tunes. Others make albums that, while certainly fiddle-centred, are more shapely, thought-through works, starting somewhere and finishing somewhere else and making a complete satisfying journey. Trio Mio starts as if it might be one of the former type. But as it unfolds it becomes clear it’s one of the latter, indeed a prime example. Apart from a couple of tracks there is a core group of three players: Heebøll, Nikolaj Busk on piano and Swede Jens Ulvsand on bouzouki and guitar. Their tightly-woven interplay and lively energy on a wonderfully varied set of strong, intricate and beautiful tunes is a joy. Busk goes straight to the top of the international league for piano-drivers, brilliantly expanding harmonic and rhythmic possibilities in the tunes. The effortless complexity of maturity runs throughout, they abound with interesting corners and elegant changes. Heebøll is not only a fine fiddler/violinist, then, but also a writer of extraordinary talent and understanding whose music is bound to be picked up by many other players if this album gets the wide hearing it deserves. And, just as it appears that this is one of those rare instrumental albums that doesn’t yearn for a voice, in as a bonus comes the absolutely suited, delicate singing of Julie Maria Larsen. (Andrew Cronshaw, fROOTS November 2004) Instrumental music in the cross-field between folk music, jazz and classical. This is really energetic and dynamic music, with beautiful melodies and outstanding interaction between the musicians.  (Siv Ekström, Fiolen Min 4/2004) Another impressive young female folk musician with her debut solo CD. What makes the album stand out is that all tunes are composed by Kristine, yet each has a lot of character and individuality. Kristine plays the violin, and her "Trio Mio" is completed by two excellent musicians, Nicolaj Busk on piano and accordion and Jens Ulvsand. This is beautiful Danish folk music, of a quality that can easily stand its ground in the international folk music scene. Another one to watch out for! (Michael Moll, FolkWorld 2004) It's very rare when you receive a recording that upon first listen has you bolt-upright at attention. It's more rare when it is something as stripped down and direct as a trio of fiddle, guitar and piano. Danish violinist Kristine Heebøll's Trio Mio is one such exceptional recording. With Swedish guitarist and bouzouki player Jens Ulvsand and Danish pianist and accordionist Nikolaj Busk rounding out the trio, Heebøll and company do startling things with their simple tools. The 13-work recording moves from vibrant folk through semi-classical elegance and round again to creative and unusual technique and execution. Trio Mio is destined to be one of those recordings you pass on to your friends, and they to theirs (Cliff Furnald, RootsWorld #267 2004) Mrs Heebøll from Denmark and both her men have written most of the compositions themselves, but hold fast to Danish tradition. It is difficult to tell the numbers apart, but it is lovely music to listen to – also for those who are seeking an introduction to the Danish musical landscape. (Folker! no. 5.04)		Kristine Heebøll: Trio Mio   Trio Mio includes Jens Ulfsand (guitars), and Nikolaj Busk (piano)
Serras: Stand Clear Of The Closing Doors Please (GO 0404 – F&M August 2004) Indeed Serras – about the only electric band in what’s essentially an acoustic folk scene – draw from post-grunge and atmospheric bands as much as they do from folk itself. Their previous albums have used 18th-century dance tunes, but for their third outing, the vast majority of the material is original, although the roots remain very firm. The album definitely takes them into rockier territory. On Anglaise they bring in Lang Linken, who helped spearhead the first wave of the Danish folk revival in the 1970s. It’s a great and seamless connection between generations, and the two crack very well together. A couple of the pieces don’t hit quite as well as they might, but a listen to the old psalm Kirken Den Er Et Gammelt Hus shows they have a knack for transporting the past into the present. This time when you say impossible to categorise, it’s a good thing. (Chris Nickson, fROOTS November 2004) Danish Serras' music might be called folk-rock, but is highly enjoyable, played with a full set of drums, etc., but without ever doing violence to the melody or the acoustic instruments. They are lucky to have such a gifted violinist as Harald Haugaard. Varied melodies from a skilled band. (Peter Ahlbom, Spelmannen 4-2004) On this, their third CD, they mostly play their own compositions, but with a firm anchoring in their folk music roots. Rock sneaks its way in between sensitive, beautiful and melodious sections.  (Siv Ekström, Fiolen Min 4/2004) Serras has made its name by creating what is essentially prog-rock, but using 18th-century Danish folk tunes as its source material. On their latest, they stretch the formula by writing their own instrumental tunes. Though the group goes for rock's electricity, the musicians don't flail away to get to an amped-up ecstatic state, but channel that energy and passion in measured, precise ways. The group pumps up the intensity of folk tunes, but they successfully keep the music's soulful essence. Though the group is a folk-rock hybrid, its music would be closer to the hearts of King Crimson fans than what is defined as folk-rock in the US, such as Jackson Browne. If 18th-century Danish villages had Marshall amps and bongs, this very well might have been the sounds that got the young Danes through the dark winter. (Marty Lipp, RootsWorld #278 2004) The third instrumental CD from Serras, who specialise in 18th-century Danish music. This time they mainly play their own compositions, though in an archaic style. The violin dominates, and the frequent saxophone contributions often make it sound like pan-Scandinavian music. (Folker! no. 2.05)		Stand Clear Of The Closing Doors Please With the above album Serras won the Danish Music Award Folk 2005 in the category Artist of the Year (Contemporary)
Tummel: Transit (TUMCD 002 – F&M February 2005) Tummel's first CD, Oy!, was pretty good, but fell to some extent into a similar style as several other groups and failed to distinguish itself from these. Now, with Transit, they have turned up the volume and the tempo. Drums and electric guitar play key roles, together with the wind-players, creating a powerful sound that occasionally reveals parallels with Hoven Droven. Most of the material is their own, and Pär Moberg's compositions, in particular, are likely to make the dance floors shake. Irresistibly good. It's not one of Lira's main tasks to review CD covers, but this one cannot be ignored: one of the smartest cases I have ever seen, entirely made of environmentally-friendly card, with a small foam rubber pad for the CD and a little bag of stickers. (Ulf Torstensson, Lira 5-2004) Euro combo playing a heavy-handed mix of Klezmer, Balkan brass and rock. Are there any bands doing similar stuff but better? I can think of one. (fROOTS March 2005). This CD is so full of energy that it’s impossible not to smile and dance along. Nonetheless the album has also a few pauses for breath, such as the beautiful A Nacht In Den Haag. The group has grown in the right direction. Although I loved their first CD, Oy, Transit is in every respect a better quality and more adult CD. The mostly original compositions work really well. The arrangements are sometimes surprising, and the electric guitar that they kick in from time to time really works for me. The CD doesn't sound like thirteen separate songs; the group managed to make Transit sound like one piece of music. With this CD, Tummel shows that they are one of Scandinavia's best-kept secrets, and it's about time that they get the attention they deserve. I recommend this CD 100%, this is exactly the way I love it! (Eelco Schilder, FolkWorld 2004) Tummel wants to make sure you have fun. Open their second CD, Transit, and out falls a little envelope full of stickers to decorate the cover with. This is acid Klezmer at its most ferocious. (Peggy Latkovich, RootsWorld #294 2004)		Tummel is a six piece Klezmer band
Karen + Helene: Solen (GO 0304 – F&M June 2004) Given that Denmark has Europe’s biggest collection of ballads, it’s ironic that most of the country’s recent folk revival has focused on instrumental music. Finally, though, here’s a disc that’s all about song, and features two of the best young Danish singers on the circuit. They bring together some powerful talent, performing as a duo and as soloists, and have helped to bring Danish song into the sun. Some pieces will remind the listener of Irish music – the opener Se Nu Stiger Solen for example, falls between Blackwaterside and sean nos, before tripping into the dance rhythm of Heja Bandet, while Skøn Sired could easily pass as a wonderfully pretty Irish song. But delve a little deeper and there’s a plenty that’s purely Danish, like Det Haver Så Nyligen Regnet, where Blum‘s voice hovers over a heartbreakingly beautiful arrangement. Mose gets a similar chance in the spotlight on Krystallen, where the earthier tones suit her breathy singing. Together the two singers offer an ideal complement, with great communication, and an innate feeling for when to leave space. They’re aided, too, by imaginative arrangements and exquisite playing.  The moods of the songs and the glorious voices and playing transcend any language barrier. With a little luck, this will be the album to give Danish music the wider exposure it deserves – and set these two up for a serious taste of stardom. (Chris Nickson, fROOTS August/September 2004) Now it feels as though the many Swedish folk singers have infected Denmark. This is beautiful and melodious music, in fine, varied arrangements. (Siv Ekström, Fiolen Min 4/2004)		Solen Karen (left) and Helene
Haugaard & Høirup: Om sommeren (GO 0203 – F&M February 2004) Om Sommeren is infused with warmth and relief. This time around there are fewer pyrotechnics from Haugaard’s fiddle (he’s arguably one of the best exponents of the instrument in the world at present); instead, the music simply breathes, a mix of traditional and original material firmly rooted in Denmark’s soil. The interplay between the two instruments seems almost telepathic at times, as they support and sketch ornamentations around each other. The light feel so typical of Danish music – not a million miles from Irish music in many ways, and generally vastly different from its darker Nordic neighbours – propels this, but it’s a base for these two to build on and create their own vocabulary. On the vocal tracks, Høirup has a serviceable, if not outstanding voice. Exquisite is a word that shouldn’t be used lightly, but this disc is definitely that. (Chris Nickson, fROOTS April 2004) The Danish answer to Irish Suantraí. This impression may derive from the dominating violin, or from the fact that some of the arrangements have a touch of Planxty about them, but the result is convincing – Danish but nonetheless North Sea European. The pieces originate with old musicians and sources, and the band round off this beautiful blend with their own compositions. (Gabriele Haefs, Folker! 2.04)		Harald Haugaard (violin) and Morten Høirup (guitars, vocal)
Henrik Jansberg: Signatur (GO 0604 – F&M February 2005) His playing is light and energetic with plenty of bounce in the reels and Contradans, but he also manages to dig deep for the slower, more reflective pieces. Jansberg clearly enjoys exploring different styles of playing, from the raw earthy sounds he extracts on some of the traditional material to the rhythmic playfulness of his own Swing Café reels and his reworking of tunes from the Reventlow collection. A group of talented friends provide sympathetic accompaniment on guitar, percussion and double bass. Robert Harbron’s distinctive concertina playing is used to good effect in the Polskas and, not surprisingly, lends a certain English Acoustic Collectiveness to the sound. (Sofi Mogensen, fROOTS April 2005) On the album, he presents a mixture of traditional tunes from Denmark and Sweden, as well as a number of Henrik's own compositions, usually close to traditional Scandinavian and Celtic music. Henrik's playing is technically perfect, both in fast and slower numbers, and his compositions also work very well. There is nothing to find fault with on this album, but somehow I cannot get into the music - it might be technically perfect, but somehow I feel the music does not have enough soul and individuality. A good chef usually has a signature dish, yet I struggle to find a signature tune for Henrik on "Signatur". This is probably just personal taste, and no doubt the quality of the music is very high. (Michael Moll, FolkWorld 2004) The critics cannot make up their minds about whether Henrik Jansberg is a traditional musician, a non-traditional musician, an experimental musician or an interpreter of folk music. He says himself that he has been influenced both by traditional folk dance musicians and by the classical composer Carl Nielsen. The first piece sounds very much like Shetland music, despite the Danish title Contradans, and so it goes on. A CD full of surprises, and one which makes you want to dance. My only complaint: the introductions are too short, and are directed at insiders. (Gabriele Haefs, Folker! no. 1.05)		Henrik Jansberg is one of the young fiddlers on the Danish folk music scene
Tumult: Kværn (GO 0504 – F&M December 2004) Kværn ("Churn") churns along well, with both old melodies and new compositions. Very inventive and varied music, but not a CD for the strict traditionalist. Titles such as Dieselschottis and a modern Sønderhoning melody called Allemagasej speak their own clear language. (Siv Ekström, Fiolen Min 4/2004) There’s something wonderfully muscular about Tumult’s brand of Danish folk-rock. It stuffs all your preconceptions about the genre in a bag. Much of the material is traditional, although you’d be hard-pressed to know it, since it’s smacked about a bit and dressed up with influences that range from slightly twisted Americana to polska. Jørgen Dickmeiss plays a mean fiddle, letting it twin with Michael Grue’s guitar to great effect in the instrumentals. They’ve come a long way since their last outing. This time the sounds and the arrangement are more focused, and they’ve learned how to breathe remarkable new life into the music, as well as writing some excellent material. If they can generate this kind of energy on record, they hold the promise of being an incendiary live act. Between Tumult and Serras, Denmark is showing that electric folk really does have a way forward without repeating the same old clichés. (Chris Nickson, fROOTS April 2005) A four-man strong traditional group playing songs and dance music from the past, with solid folk dance skills and great enthusiasm. Pure refreshment for the ears. (Folker! no. 2.05)		Kværn
Harald Haugaard & Anders Mogensen: Spirits (GO 0904 – F&M April 2005) Let’s start with a non-controversial claim: Harald Haugaard is one of the top five fiddlers in the world today. The evidence is right here on the first track of Spirits. On Amagerdans, his playing is pushed by Mogensen’s jazz drumming, but pushes back harder, adding little ornaments that make perfect sense. From there, the pair (plus guitar and bass) make Forkert Vals / Vals Som er Ganske Ny sound like John Martyn’s Small Hours, bringing a sense of mystery and magic to a dance set. The whole album is a tour de force outing, especially since it was recorded in just two days. About the only point of departure from beauty occurs at the end, when the original Ridehusets Sorte Engle gets weighed down by too much heavy riffage, trying to turn folk into rock and failing as completely as any alchemist. But the remaining 11 tracks are a bit of a revelation, not only of what Haugaard can do with his instrument, but also expanding the parameters of Danish folk, with its light, lyrical melodies, placing them into atmospheric and jazzy arenas, yet never losing sight of their history. In its own small way it’s quite revolutionary, and definitely addictive, the kind of record to be played over and over and end up in a year’s best pile. (Chris Nickson, fROOTS April 2005) Harald Haugaard is an outstanding violinist, with playing that is founded on a confident and stylish technique. He has also developed an ear for jazz. This really works, even if not all the arrangements are equally good or interesting. The other musicians, besides being highly skilled, show themselves capable of acquiring part of the vocabulary of folk music. A synergy arises from the meeting between folk music and jazz, and the CD demonstrates that these two genres are not so very far apart. (Bjørn Aksdal, Spelemannsbladet 2·2005)		Spirits
Afenginn: Retrograd (Tutl SHD67 – F&M February 2005) Nordic Klezmer band with a Finnish motor. Here you will find, as is right and proper, both melancholy and wildness – as well as a fair helping of madness. Afenginn are not above starting a number in an uneven Balkan rhythm and ending up a little later in free-form jazz. Or mixing a Finnish gypsy polka with inspiration drawn from Faroese nature. They may once in a while feel the urge to play something slow and lyrical, but it always ends up going full pelt. This is honest hold-onto-your-hat music played with great love and a determination to raise the roof. Musical skills and talent, seasoned with spontaneity and creativity. (Mats Palmquist, Lira 2-2005)		Afenginn Photo: Nina Olofsson
Phønix: Collage (GO 2004 – F&M April 2005) Anja Præst Mikkelsen's bass clarinet and Jesper Vinther Pedersen's accordion still set their stamp on the sound, but vocalist Karen Mose is gradually coming more into the foreground with her warm and deep voice. Percussionist Jesper Falck plays with great empathy, and that means a lot, especially live. Swinging, musicianly, Danish charm at its best. (Peter Ahlbom, Spelmannen 1-2005)
Jydsk på Næsen: Går’n, så går’n (Helikon HCD 1045 – F&M April 2003) They play dance music from Denmark and the Nordic countries, mostly their own compositions. It all sounds original, yet still very Danish: immediate, as though you were standing right in front of the stage, and spell-binding – it makes you want to hear much more, and to see the group perform live. (Gabriele Haefs, Folker! no.  4.03) Charming collection of memorable dance tunes (waltzes, hopsas, polkas…) on the fourth CD from this well-established Danish quartet. Mostly original compositions, plus a few Danish trad tunes. Sprightly, catchy and beautifully played with lift and precision. (fROOTS October 2003). Danish folk music always puts me in a good mood – and this CD is no disappointment in that respect. This is Danish folk music with just the right dance swing, relaxed and good-natured, played with feeling and sufficient finesse. Jydsk på Næsen play tight, danceable music. (Siv Ekström, Fiolen Min 2-2003)
Drones & Bellows and the Dragseth Duo: Hiimstoun (GO 0804 – F&M February 2005) This unique multicultural musical project arose in the borderland between Denmark and Germany, and rests on a broad musical tradition. The musicians have succeeded in creating a consistent mix of this rich cultural heritage; the arrangements are expressive and full of ideas, with surprising turns. The vocals are convincing. In my opinion, Hiimstoun is the best CD for several years. (Ulrich Joosten, Folker! no.  2.05)
And a couple of words in conclusion … There is a lot of praise here, leaving no doubt that Danish folk music teems with skilled, highly-trained musicians who can play, write melodies, arrange music and create a coherent expression. Neither is there any doubt that Danish folk possesses an international appeal. Further conclusions I leave up to the individual reader. All of the CDs may be purchased wherever you normally buy folk music. Music samples can be found on most of the homepage links above.
Sources Spelemannsbladet – Norwegian magazine Spelmannen – Members' newsletter for Sweden's Spelmäns Riksförbund (Swedish Traditional Musicians' National Organisation). Fiolen Min – Members' newsletter for Finland's Swedish traditional musicians' organisation. Lira – Swedish world and folk music magazine Folker! – German folk music magazine Folkmagazin – German folk music magazine fROOTS – English world and folk music magazine RootsWorld – American web-based folk music magazine FolkWorld – German web-based folk music magazine Global Rhythm – American folk music magazine This article is a revised version of an article originally published in Folk & Musik vol. 16, no. 3, 2005.