The annual Nordic Jazz festival in Washington, D.C. features bands from Finland, Sweden, The Faroe Islands, and Norway's Ola Kvernberg Trio - on the rooftop of House of Sweden, June 12 and 13, 2008.
Nordic countries jazz it up once again. The Finish, Swedish and Norwegian embassies have invited the hottest acts in Nordic Jazz: All of the performers have been invited to the Rochester International Jazz Festival
When
Thursday, June 12, 8-10 PM
Kristian Blak and Yggdrasil (Faroe Islands) Yggdrasil is named after the Norse world tree. The band, a mixture of winds, strings, percussion and keyboards, is fronted by one of the most sensuous vocalists of our day, Eivor Palsdottir. Under the Odin-esque eye of Yggdrasil’s leader-composer Kristian Blak, the folk-jazz they make is filled with the sounds of Nature and worthy of Valhalla.
Wildbirds and Peacedrums (Sweden) Swedish husband and wife duo Mariam Wallentin and Andreas Werliin build their music on vocals and drums and then expand and develop it with some help from electronic devices and other instruments such as the sitar and the glockenspiel. A perfect mix of spiritual pop, free-blues and raw soulmusic makes this band one of the most interesting in Sweden today.
Friday, June 13, 8-10 PM
Iro Haarla Quintet (Finland) "Haarla is a pianist and harpist—and her music is entirely Nordic in nature. Northbound is the sound of glaciers melting: slowly unfolding and gorgeously meditative. Her musicians—Trygve Seim (saxophones), Mathias Eick (trumpet), Uffe Krokfors (double bass) and Jon Christensen (drums)—are keenly sensitive to Haarla’s desolate lullabies, which all have a fractured fairytale quality about them," writes Jazz Times
Ola Kvernberg Trio (Norway) Ola Kvernberg Trio consists of Norwegian bass player Steinar Raknes, Swedish drummer Erik Nylander, and is led by Norwegian jazz violinist Ola Kvernberg. Their music is a mixture of bebop, folkmusic-fiddling and modal jazz. Focusing on the interplay, the result is quite a unique sound. The trio just released its debut album Night Driver which received rave reviews.
Where
Rooftop of House of Sweden, 901 30th Street, NW
Tickets
Buy online at ticketweb
$25.00 for one day; $40.00 for both days
Ola Kvernberg Trio. Photo by Fred Jonny Hammerø
Iro Haarla Quintet. Photo by Maarit Kytöharju
Nordic Jazz takes place on the rooftop of House of Sweden, overlooking the Potomac river.