— 30 years of the soul language of music.
Last year's sold-out concert with Ytre Suløens Jass-ensemble gave us the desire to make the traditional aspects of jazz and folk music a summer tradition. With STREIF, we are bringing in an ensemble that has made the traditional — yet new — its trademark for 30 years.
When Georg Reiss and Tom Karlsrud recorded the album Streif in 1996, the idea was to show that the same soulfulness is found in Norwegian folk music as in Jewish klezmer — that music, regardless of its origin, is the language of the soul. This summer, thirty years later, the original line-up will reunite. Streif plays folk music in an expanded form, from Turkey in the east to Sogn in the west — where the Norwegian source material is treated as authentically as possible, while the Balkan cantons are given virtuoso and free, improvisational scope. Welcome to one of the summer's most atmospheric evenings!
Georg Reiss clarinet, saxophone & tárogató
Torbjørn Økland guitar, mandolin, bouzouki & trumpet
Tom Karlsrud accordion & tenor horn
Birger Mistereggen percussion, vocals & harmonica
John Børge Askeland bass
Duration approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes. The concert has no intermission.
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Georg Reiss is considered one of Norway's most versatile clarinetists — classically trained at the Norwegian Academy of Music and the Guildhall School of Music in London, but equally familiar with jazz, Dixieland and folk music. With a highly developed sense of style and ability to convey, he has a rare ability to adapt to any musical setting across cultures, whether in the Magnolia Jazzband, Gjertrud's Gypsy Orchestra or on the tárogató — the Hungarian woodwind instrument where many believe he found his own voice. Reiss leads Streif, the ensemble he founded in 1996, and is a constant driving force in the band's search for new expressions.
Streif was an early adopter of traditional music into new contexts — a crossover that has since become a model for other bands in the same tonal landscape. The current line-up came together in 2000 and is behind the albums Trollfugl (2000) and Nøring (2004), the latter also released in Germany on the compilation album Nordic Winter . Alongside Reiss, the band consists of Torbjørn Økland on guitars, mandolin, bouzouki and trumpet, Tom Karlsrud on accordion and tenor horn, Birger Mistereggen on drums, percussion, vocals and mouth harp, and John Børge Askeland on bass. Together, they are improvising musicians who take the listener to new musical landscapes — both surprising, catchy, emotional and moody. We look forward to it!
We wish you an enjoyable, unique concert experience with us. Welcome!
Photo: Runhild Heggem