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Väsen play original and traditional Scandinavian folk music with modern twists. Their music is not strictly limited to folk, they have delved into American bluegrass with Mike Marshall and Darol Anger as well as many other musical styles. Väsen is essentially comprised of three members, Olov Johansson, Mikael Marin and Roger Tallroth. Johansson plays the traditional Swedish nyckelharpa, Marin plays the viola and Tallroth, the 12-string guitar. Andre Ferrari occasionally sits in on various forms of percussion.
Olov Johansson and Mikael Marin started playing together as teenagers around 198 ...read more
Väsen play original and traditional Scandinavian folk music with modern twists. Their music is not strictly limited to folk, they have delved into American bluegrass with Mike Marshall and Darol Anger as well as many other musical styles. Väsen is essentially comprised of three members, Olov Johansson, Mikael Marin and Roger Tallroth. Johansson plays the traditional Swedish nyckelharpa, Marin plays the viola and Tallroth, the 12-string guitar. Andre Ferrari occasionally sits in on various forms of percussion.
Olov Johansson and Mikael Marin started playing together as teenagers around 1980. During the early 1980's they would regularly visit Curt and Ivar Tallroth and Eric Sahlström, older musicians who lived nearby in the Uppland region, where they would play and learn traditional music from them. In this way they became a link in the living tradition that Swedish folk music has enjoyed through the centuries.
Olov Johansson – nyckelharpa
In 1990, Olov became the first world champion of the nyckelharpa. He began to play the nyckelharpa in 1980 as a fourteen-year old, and was named a 'riksspelman' (master musician) in 1984. Olov has studied with the legendary Curt Tallroth and Erik Sahlström. He is regarded as one of Sweden's most prominent nyckelharpa players, and is an inspiration for numerous young performers on the instrument. He is teaching regularly at the Eric Sahlström Institutet.
Apart from his association with Väsen, Olov has also played with groups such as Kronos Quartet, the Nyckelharpa Orchestra, as well as solo performances. He has also recorded and toured with the chart-topping Swedish rock group Nordman, and has played on the albums Early Music (with Kronos Quartet) and his solo project, Storsvarten (released on NorthSide). See also: www.olovjohansson.se
Mikael Marin – violaMikael is a violist who isn't satisfied with merely playing "second fiddle." His influences are literally unlimited in their scope, and oscillate between Schöenberg and the Beatles. He became a national fiddler in 1983, and was chosen to play in a world orchestra under the direction of Leonard Bernstein in 1989.
When not performing with Väsen, he composes, produces, and arranges music for artists such as Mikael Samuelsson, Nordman, and Kronos Quartet. He composed (together with Mats Wester) the opening music to the World Police and Fire Games in Stockholm, 1999.
Mikael can be heard on several recordings, for example Nordman (with Nordman), Barfota (with Mikael Samuelsson), Ånon (with Ånon Egeland, released on NorthSide), and Flow my Tears (with The Forge Players). See also: www.myspace.com/mikaelmarin
Roger Tallroth – 12-string guitarWith his specially tuned guitar (A-D-A-D-A-D), Roger has developed a distinctive sound of his own. In addition to the guitar, he plays the Swedish bouzoki and octave mandolin. Roger received his first guitar when he was thirteen. Since then, he has studied at Sjövik Folkhögskola and Örebro. He has about 50 followers throughout the world using his tuning, a number still growing. He has given numerous seminars around Europe and the US. Roger has performed together with Nordman, Annbjørg Lien, and the Gunnel Mauritzson Group, among other artists, and has also participated in several stage and theater productions.
Roger's discography includes Nordman (with Nordman), Felefeber, Prisme, Baba Yaga, and Aliens Alive (with Annbjørg Lien), Siluette and Raisu Äut (with the Gunnel Mauritzson Group), The Horse and the Crane by Ale Möller (on NorthSide) and Kat Kombat (Kombat). He also produced the self-titled début album of the group Draupner (on Caprice). See also: www.myspace.com/rogertallroth
André Ferrari – percussionAndré is a creative percussionist who plays an ever-changing array of percussion depending on the occasion. For example, he uses an extremely low-tuned pandeiro as a black grouse pipe. He began to play percussion at the age of nine, and has studied with Olle Landzell. In addition, André is an excellent bass player. He attended Berklee College of Music in the US, and the Royal College of Music, in Stockholm.André has appeared alongside a long list of the greatest Swedish artists, such as Eva Dahlgren, Anders Glenmark, Tommy Körberg, Jonas Gardell, and many others. When not touring with Väsen, he teaches at Fryshuset in Stockholm, as part of the program for rock musicians. « hide |
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