Zvony

This is a duo recording of Slovak and Norwegian flutes with double bass. The flutes, played by Michaela Antalová, are the fujara, the Slovak shepherds’ flute, which has a much lighter and airier tone than you would expect from its huge size, and the Norwegian overtone flute seljefløyte. The first speedy track featuring this instrument, ‘En Liten Halling’, is a welcome change of pace. The fujara has a distinctive scatter-like flourish, often used by traditional players, which Antalová also uses on ‘Ej, Nožičky ma Bolia’, one of the more effective tracks.

This album came out of lockdown when Antalová and bassisst Adrian Myhr spent a long time improvising together. The contrasting sounds of the instruments complement each other well, with ethereal flutey tones over the experimental bass, bowed, hit and plucked. I’m all for using traditional instruments to make new music but what’s missing is variety – despite (on one track) a folk choir from the village of Šumiac, one of the heartlands of Slovak traditional music. However, the perspective of the choir is so distant compared to the instruments that it just sounds odd. Much of this is like paint drying, hopefully much more interesting to play than to listen to.