Johan Andreas Andersen was born in 1938. He preserves the traditional music of Unjárga/Nesseby in county Finnmark. He has collected a number of songs and joiks from the Varanger area. The Nesseby songs are more melodic than the songs in the inland regions in Finnmark. They sometimes include long texts, often about nature, animals people.
Andersen learned most of these joiks from his father, Anders Persen, who was a well-known traditional joik singer in Nesseby, but he also composes his own joiks. He has toured several times for the Norwegian Concert Institute, and has participated in various international cultural exchanges and conferences for indigenous peoples.
On his debut CD in 1999, he presented joiks with simple arrangements by Fred Endresen.
Johan A. Andersen has a special ability to imitate the sounds of animals and birds. He has worked as a sailor, hunter, fjord fisherman, cook and Sami handcrafts.
The album Unnengukká viežžak contains traditional songs as well as two originals.
Discography
Hoi Hoi mun lávlestan (Idut ICD 991, 1999)
Unnengukká viežžak (Idut, 2009)
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.
