Songar frå Havdal

I was lucky enough to take part in a workshop a couple of years ago led by the Norwegian singer Unni Boksasp. Her voice, her vocal agility, her sense of fun, her creativity and her engagement with traditional Norwegian music were overwhelming. With a CD due out I hoped it would capture something of that live experience; I wasn’t disappointed. She has some fine musicians working with her here. Henning Sommerro brings raw and edgy harmonium playing to the hymn-like ‘Kom Hit Mine Venner. It launches into the next song ‘Stakkels Gut’, about a poor orphan boy, with a change of pace and texture as zither and fiddle weaving over the top of the bass. Singing unaccompanied on the children’s song ‘Pe Pinkelifot’, Boksasp’s voice is strong yet gentle, and again there’s a delightful piece of sequencing on the CD taking us into the Eastern textures of ‘Mannen og Reven’, with beautiful lute playing from Anon Egeland. One of the most beautiful tracks on the CD is Boksasp’s version of a well-known traditional lullaby ‘Sulla Lulla’. The lute playing takes us into intriguing harmonic lands before we’re rooted back in Norwegian territory with the fine fiddle playing of Jorunn Marie Kvernberg and bassist Magne Vestrum. And we’re treated to some fine kulning – traditional cattle calling – in ‘Bukkjen sto e Brynna’. A CD of great joy and beauty from an outstanding singer.