SANS – Live (Cloud Valley CV2014, 2014) SANS is an ensemble that combines contemporary folk music, jazz and chamber music elements. The group is led…
SANS’ Entrancing Chamber World Music
Tag: Finnish music
Artist Profiles: Sinikka Langeland
Born in 1961 to a Norwegian father and a Finnish mother from Karelia, Langeland was given a Finnish name, Sinikka, and felt the influence of…
Hedningarna, Nordic Cult Band
Hedningarna – Kult (Silence Records SRSCD-4771, 2016) Throughout the years, Swedish band Hedningarna taped a lot of great material during recording sessions that never made…
Artist Profiles: Nils-Aslak Valkepää
Nils-Aslak Valkepää, called Aillohas by his fellow Samis, was born on March 23, 1943 in Enontekiö, Finland. He was one of the trail-blazers of traditional…
Old Time Balkan from Lapland
Jaakko Laitinen & Väärä Raha – Näennäinen (Playground Music, 2016) Jaakko Laitinen and his band Väärä Raha hail from Lapland in northern Finland and they…
Artist Profiles: Frigg
Frigg specializes in the rich folk heritage from Finland and Norway. The musicians combine elements of their respective folk traditions with touches of American Appalachian…
Impeccable Contemporary Finnish Folk
Karuna – Tuulispää (Kuu Records, 2016) Karuna features three talented contemporary folk music instrumentalists and composers from Finland. Tuulispää is Karuna’s second album and it…
A Beautiful Bagpipe tradition Recovered
Päre – Hausjärvi Beat (Zebo Records ZBR01, 2016) Päre is a Finnish band that has recovered the Finnish bagpipe tradition. On the band’s album Hausjärvi…
Dramatically Elegant Viena
Varttina – Viena (Westpark Music, 2016) Thirty years in the making, the Finnish folk group Varttina started out as a children’s music project in the…
Diane Jarvi: whimsy and gritty
A CD review by Susan Budig Diane Jarvi – Flying Into Blue (Lupine Records, 1999) Diane Jarvi told me this CD was made to appeal…