Hugnad

Olav Luksengård Mjelva is the Norwegian member of the Norwegian/Swedish/Shetland trio the Nordic Fiddlers Bloc. An award-winning composer and sought-after recording artist, he has worked with artists as diverse as Wardruna and Breabach. Hugnad features 13 original tunes, for the most part played solo on fiddle and Hardanger fiddle. There are jigs and polskas, waltzes and hallings (a type of lively Norwegian dance tune.)

Here, Mjelva has collected together eight of his favourite compositions that have previously appeared on recordings with his various collaborative projects. As the sleeve notes explain, he has ‘always had the urge to record them in a solo setting to come back to their original form.’ Along with these re-recordings there are five new tunes, some of which are accompanied by guitar, accordion and double bass. Mjelva’s style is generally much more playful than that of his friend and fellow Hardanger fiddle virtuoso Benedicte Maurseth, to whom he pays tribute in ‘Røros-Trio’ – a medley comprising a Maurseth-like ‘listening tune,’ followed by ‘Norra Røros’ (the only traditional composition on the album,) and Mjelva’s tender waltz ‘Trollhaugen’.