Jarven, the new project from Swedish folk masters
Lena Willemark and
Ale Möller, picks up right where their last offering, 1994's
Nordan, ended. The prolific duo have brought on fiddler/bagpiper
Per Gudmundson, renamed themselves
Frifot, and created a masterful collection of neo-traditional folk that rivals anything in their storied careers.
Frifot are peerless interpreters of the genre, but what makes them so indispensable are their innate abilities as multi-instrumentalists and composers.
Möller, a master of every instrument he can get his hands on, spends much of his time on the Octave mandola accompanying the two fiddlers. However, when he picks up the overtone flute -- "Gammal och Unghalling (Young and Old)" -- or the harmonica -- "Svarteborgaren (The Svarteborg Tune)" -- he is revealed as a fiercely singular force of nature, and
Willemark, with her acrobatic fiddling and otherworldly voice, comes off like a creature from Scandinavian myth. As trios go, one could not do any better than these three virtuosos, who manage to electrify their acoustic instruments with a passion that is normally reserved for a live performance.
Jarven is, like all of their previous recordings, highly recommended. ~ James Christopher Monger