This was a wonderful opportunity to experience four of Denmark's liveliest bands and some of the best folk musicians from that country. In a mammoth afternoon gig lasting almost three hours, Zar, Instinkt, Karen Mose and Helene Blum (with their band The Sun), and Henrik Jansberg treated the audience at the Strathclyde Suite of the Royal Concert Hall to an inspiring and memorable experience.

Zar made an immediate impact following on from their triumph of the evening before at the packed Festival Club where they had been the first band to get everyone up and dancing. This was an opportunity though to just sit back and marvel at their superb musicianship, whether in instrumental or vocal numbers. For the songs, fantastic vocalist Sine Lauritsen joined the band and made a huge impact with her beautiful singing and powerful stage presence. The band's music is characterised by Lauritsen's contemporary vocal style accompanied by more traditional instrumentation. The band was in its element performing a 200-year-old dance tune made new for the 21st century. The loud applause was well deserved and Lauritsen as Danish Folk Vocalist of the year is someone to look out for on the world music scene.

I have already reviewed Instinkt's last album, Hur!, here for Rambles.NET, and was eagerly anticipating their performance. The musicians bring many influences to the band including Danish/Nordic traditions, Irish music and French Canadian/Cape Breton interests. Their music has been described as "Nordic folkbeat," which is an apt description. The band's contemporary take on the tradition include tunes taken at pace with a jazzy emphasis that reminded me of Welsh-based band Fernhill. It was claimed by one of the band that a hurdy-gurdy out of tune was hell, but when in tune heavenly, and certainly the instrument added an extraordinarily rich dimension to the music. A couple of songs had a very pagan feel to them exploring both dark moods and yet celebrating life. The percussionist Vivi di Bap demonstrated some amazing vocal gymnastics in "Ode til Dollerup Bakker" and in an impressive finale the musicians also showed off some deft dance moves, too. As it happened, this performance was only a warm-up for an evening gig, which was evidently one of the highlights of the whole festival.

If Sine Lauritsen is an outstanding singer, then Karen Mose and Helene Blum showed there must be a deep reserve of singing talent in Denmark. Both vocalists have a typically Scandinavian style that sounded sublime whether accompanied or not. In some ways the set was the opposite of Zar's in that the singing was more traditional than Lauritsen's while the band, The Sun, provided a modern touch in songs like "Beautiful Summer." There was an ethereal quality about the singing which gave a feel-good atmosphere on a cold Glasgow day.

Talented young fiddler Henrik Jansberg and his band appropriately provided a very Scottish sound to conclude the concert as they moved effortlessly from conventional tunes to the much more avant-garde. A set of tunes inspired by a trip to Cape Breton had a particularly Gaelic ring about it. His music inspired Mose and Blum to demonstrate some Danish dancing in front of the stage which nicely epitomised the blend of formal and informal aspects of Danish folk music today.

I found the whole three hours enthralling and my only criticism would be that the running order might have worked better if it had started more gently with Mose and Blum, the pace picked up through Jansberg, then Zar, and concluding with the dynamic Instinkt. As it was though, Mose and Blum -- and Jansberg too -- did well to manage to hold their own after the very upbeat Zar and Instinkt. Anyone interested in Northern European folk music should check out all these acts.

- Rambles
written by Andy Jurgis
published 12 March 2005

[ visit Zar's website ]

[ visit Instinkt's website ]

[ visit Karen & Helene's website ]

[ visit Henrik Jansberg's website ]