Nordic Raga

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W nazwie projektu, w syntetycznej formie ukrywa się idea, będąca artystycznym fundamentem tej międzykulturowej fuzji. Na "Nordic Raga" Jyotsna Srikanth, Mats Edén, Dan Svensson i Pär Moberg, z elementów klasycznej muzyki indyjskiej i nordyckiej ludowizny, tworzą rodzaj wyimaginowanego folkloru, raz skręcającego w stronę jazzowych form (a to za sprawą improwizacyjnego waloru muzyki, ale także sposobów artykulacji i frazowania instrumentalistów), innym razem ludowej muzyki, z typowymi dla niej rozwiązaniami rytmicznymi.

Większość utworów urzeka spokojem i leniwą rytmiką, napędzaną jednakowoż podskórnym transem. Muzycy z Indii i Szwecji z niezwykłą swobodą kursują pomiędzy światem folkloru a jazzem. A trzeba powiedzieć, że nie są to artyści, którzy działają powodowani potrzebą kalkowania, odtwórczej estradowej pracy. W studio zgromadzili się muzycy prawdziwie kreatywni, których potencjał artystyczny pozwala na udźwignięcie wyzwaniu, jakim bez wątpienia jest międzykulturowy dialog, w tym przypadku indoeuropejski. Każdy z nich wnosi od siebie do wspólnego języka coś bardzo znaczącego, czyli swoją indywidualność i osobowość.

Zespół istnieje od 2014 roku, ma za sobą wiele występów, na dwóch kontynentach. Recenzje z koncertów dowodzą, że mamy do czynienia z głębokim międzykulturowym dialogiem, wyrafinowanym konglomeratem muzyki etnicznej i jazzu.
‘It’s powerful, subtle, glorious and, indeed, culturally significant’ fROOTS
‘This is something new and refreshing’ Evening Standard
‘Lovely, hot and seldom heard music arose in the well-directed collision between Swedish folk music and south Indian classic tonality.’ Sydsvenskan
“Swedish waltzes and polskas meet Bangalore passion, grace and fire in this superb communion” The Herald
autor: Mateusz Matyjak
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Editor's info:
Nordic Raga is a group which experiments with bringing more improvisation in Nordic folk music, which traditionally doesn´t use improvisation much. To find inspiration for this they use models for how improvisation is used in classical Indian music, but use Nordic scales and rhythms.

In a typical Nordic Raga concert the emphasis is on improvised music, where the improvisation is based on scales and rhythms from Nordic folk music, but uses the tools of south Indian Carnatic music. But the band also performs both more traditional Nordic and Carnatic music. In the World Music business, the word ‘collaboration’ often has a negative ring to it. Perhaps because the projects are often put together in great haste, and the participants seldom have the chance to acquire in depth understanding of each others’ musical traditions. Not so in Nordic Raga, where the participants all have both a very thorough understanding of their own tradition AND a deep understanding and curiosity for the tradition of the counterpart.

The band is not afraid of trying new paths, and has for instance done a cooperation with Vindla, one of Sweden’s leading string quartets.

The Nordic Raga album transverses two rich musical traditions with great sensitivity and musical virtuosity, seamlessly combining the improvisational qualities of South Indian music in the hands of violin maestro Jyotsna Srikanth with the traditions and soundscapes of Nordic folk.
When Dan Svensson and Pär Moberg put together this project, they didn’t quibble with the name. Happily, Nordic Raga does exactly what it says on the tin: mixes the scales and rhythms of Nordic folk with the improvisatory tradition of South Indian Classical or Carnatic music. But their chosen nom de plume is where such spruce simplicity ends. This album transverses two rich musical traditions with great depth, sensitively stitching together histories and sounds to a cohesive artistic wholeness.

‘It’s powerful, subtle, glorious and, indeed, culturally significant’ fROOTS

The quartet comprises aforementioned founding Swedish members Dan on percussion and vocals and Pär on saxophones, flute and even digeridoo. They are joined by Bangalore-born Jyotsna Srikanth, a veritable master of Indian Carnatic violin. Her playing career has taken her all over the world and established her as a visionary in her field. Mats Edén is a fiddler with roots in the Värmland tradition of Midwest Sweden and has been a seminal influence in the revival of Swedish folk music since the 1970s.

While the theory fascinates, this album sings with joy. Robust round-toned violins tunnel upwards accompanied by jangling tambourine and commanding drum on opening jig ‘Vildhonung’. This track is an arrangement of a folk dance from the borderlands of Sweden and Norway. The closing track ‘Vals efter Ola Lans’ shares a same zesty spirit, riffing on a tune from Skane in Southern Sweden and dedicated to the master fiddler Ola Lans who hails from that region.

‘This is something new and refreshing’ Evening Standard

The quartet’s main task was to marry the improvisation of Carnatic music to folk traditions of Scandinavia. Their approach is strikingly expounded on the track ‘Folk Dreams’ which opens with a recitation of an Indian percussive language called Konnakol. This is the art of speaking rhythmic mnemonics called solkattu in sequence to organise temporal musical gestures and structures: a tool by which to improvise.

European dances also bear audible influence on the group’s sound. ‘Polska fran Eda’ is a traditional polska popular in the western region of Sweden. ‘Balkan Waltz’ takes a rather different approach revelling in complex rhythmic jolts and time shifts. For the melody composer Dan Svensson uses the traditional Middle Eastern scale of hijaz to interesting effect.

‘Lovely, hot and seldom heard music arose in the well-directed collision between Swedish folk music and south Indian classic tonality.’ Sydsvenskan

Nordic Raga was recorded at The Academy of Music in Malmö, Sweden – a location that feels apt in its gravitas. This unique work is a truly holistic and well-thought treatment of both Scandinavian and Carnatic music to a simply exquisite end. Never before heard.

“One of the most exciting musical meetings I´ve heard and seen for a long time.”
Alexander Agrell, Sydsvenskan (Swedish newspaper) – January 2014

“Swedish waltzes and polskas meet Bangalore passion, grace and fire in this superb communion”
Rob Adams, The Herald, Scotland – August 2014.

“This innovative collaboration – or perhaps, compromise – is World music in its truest sense.”
Larry Bartleet, Broadway Baby – August 2014.

“I know good music when I hear it, and I heard it tonight.”
Jim Welsh, East Coast FM, Edinburgh.

Dan Svensson - Percussion/Vocals
Dan grew up with pop and rock music as a singer, but during his studies at the Academy of Music he was more and more attracted by folk and world music, and he soon became very much asked for in this genre. Today his very diversified activities range from projects in Nordic folk music like Alla Fagra, Yölariis and ODE via Arabic projects like Tarabband and a trio with oud-player Ali Awash, to his own compositions of poems by Swedish poet Karin Boye. “Svensson has a light touch on hand drums including, on a piece that posited Macedonia as the halfway point between their relative homes, the darabuka, and his wordless vocals splendidly complement Srikanth’s use of the rhythmic mnemonics with which Indian musicians voice percussive patterns”. (The Herald, Scotland, August 2014)

Jyotsna Srikanth - Violin
Jyotsna was born in Bangalore in India, absorbing south Indian Carnatic music with her mother´s milk. Today she lives in London, but the whole world is her place of work, and she´s considered as one of the greatest within Carnatic music in the world. She tours India several times a year and she has played with most of the great masters there. She´s also a popular teacher and she has an academic degree of western classical violin. Thus, she´s got a valuable capability to explain and implement Indian music into western musicians and audiences. “Srikanth soaks up music from global sources and her ability to negotiate the tricky contours of Scandinavian dance tunes and then add passages of her own helps to create music that is by turns recognisably Swedish and something naturally, invigoratingly new”. (The Herald, Scotland, August 2014)

Pär Moberg - Saxophone/Flutes/Didgeridoo
Pär, too, grew up with rock music as a singer but discovered folk music and the saxophone in his early twenties. He has a long and thorough experience both of Nordic folk music in different constellations such as Grannar and Moberg Lie, and of east European music in the group Tummel. He has also worked with different types of multi-cultural projects such as World Mix Orchestra. His main profession is as head of Department of Folk- and World Music at the Academy of Music in Malmö. “To call Moberg a saxophonist is to omit half a dozen other instruments and his contribution of colour and rhythm as well as melody adds to the exhilaration of Srikanth’s biting glissandi and flammable riffing”. (The Herald, Scotland, August 2014).

Mats Edén - Violin/Melodeon
A brilliant fiddler with his roots in the Värmland tradition (Värmland is a province in midwest Sweden) and one of the most important musicians in the development of folk music in Sweden since the 1970s.
Mats Edén is a musician who challenges boundaries constantly. His artistry involves integration and meetings between different traditions, both between different folk music traditions and between folk music and art music as well as folk music and jazz.He´s also a teacher at the Academy of Music in Malmö.
Occasionally, Mats has also been replaced on tours by the great Swedish Fiddle player Lena Jonsson.