THE HARDANGER is a distinctly Norwegian version of the fiddle, but with eight/nine strings instead of four, and decoration, with a carved animal as part of the scroll at the top of the pegbox, and mother of pearl inlay on the fingerboard.
The Hardanger is used mainly in southwest Norway to accompany dancing or for leading a bridal procession to church. A master of this instrument is Nils Økland, in whose hands it creates atmospheric soundscapes and boundary defying, imaginative, explorative music.
Galway will heave a chance to hear the Hardanger when Økland, joined by a leading Norwegian jazz and improv musicians - Rolf-Erik Nystrøm (saxophones ), Sigbjørn Apeland (harmonium ), Mats Eilertsen (bass ), Håkon Mørck Stene (percussion, vibraphone ) - play St Nicholas' Collegiate Church on Sunday October 6 at 8pm as part of the Galway Jazz Festival.
Økland's recent Lysning album will form the centrepiece of the concert. Songlines said of the record: "There is...not one moment when we're not confronted by a beautiful isolation that somehow makes sense of this world and which lingers long in the memory."
Tickets available via www.galwayjazz.ie
