The Whole Music Experience

Classical/ Blues Knut Reiersrud Band   Trondheimsolistene   Infinite Gratitude   Kirkelig Kulturverksted Last month I ran across a YouTube video of Norwegian bluesman Knut Reiersrud’s band playing along side a chamber orchestra.  The result was so astounding that I paused to compose my thoughts.  Normally, we wouldn’t think of blues and classical chamber music coming together on the same page.  Yes, we have heard pop, jazz, and rock versions of famous classical pieces.  And in reverse, symphonies performed pop or rock classics with mixed results.  On the album Infinite Gratitude , Knut Reiersrud and his blues band pair up with the chamber ensemble Trondheimsolstine where they explore the 2nd movements of Franz Schubert’s String Quintet in C major and Johannes Brahms’ String Sextet in B flat major .  The musicians literally wed blues to chamber music.    I much prefer the dreamier slower pass a ges ...

World Mahsa Vahdat & Mighty Sam McClain Love Duets across Civilizations A Deeper Tone of Longing Kirkelig Kulturverksted Missing the boat on the duets of Mahsa Vahdat (Iran) and Mighty Sam McClain (US blues) 2009 album, Scent of Reunion , I’m coming on a board with a new album of love duets, A Deeper Tone of Longing .   Featuring Farsi poetry by Mohammad Ibrahim Jafari and English poetry by founder of Kirkelig Kulterverksted, Erik Hillestad poetry almost eclipses the passionate vocals and musical arrangements by Knut Reiersrud (a Norwegian bluesman).   Actually, when you look at the musicians on this album, it feels like KKV brought in the whole team in fusing blues with Iranian classical music--something that looks like an impossible dream on the surface, but succeeds. When You Came shows off the bluesy side of the equation until a lonely ney (Iranian reed flute) comes in followed by Vahdat’s haunting vocals.   The song even features R...

Sondre Bratland This Dream We Have Kirkelig Kulturverksted Now in his 70s, Sondre Bratland released a new recording, This Dream We Have . The recording features simple instrumental arrangements that provide a light backdrop for Bratland's signature vocals. Bratland also surfs through a variety of musical genres which he has grown fond of over the years, ballads, folk songs, a little bit of Latin music ( Dream and reality ), and country western. However this CD also has been spiced with a jazz element. Norwegian poet Olav H. Hauge's poems provide the text for this recording. Multi-instrumentalist Knut Reiersrud, fiddle player Annbjorg Lien, drummer Helge Norbakken and multi-instrumentalist Matthias Eick (double-bass, trumpet and vibraphone), bring a palette of vibrant colors and textures to the recording. I Always Expect to Find features understated guitar, sultry trumpet, and the chime of vibraphone. In fact, this is the second Norwegian recording in the past weeks in...