Nils Økland - violins
Sigbjørn Apeland - keyboards
Album released on ECM in 2023.
Violinist Nils Økland and keyboardist Sigbjørn Apeland, musical partners for thirty years, have long explored the interface of Norwegian traditional music and improvisation.
Glimmer, an exceptionally beautiful and touching album, takes as its starting point folk music from the Haugalandet region of Western Norway. Apeland’s collection of pieces from local singers who have helped to keep the traditions alive forms the basis of the repertoire here, along with original compositions.
Available for commissions and special projects.
Nils and percussionist Øyvind Skarboe, ran a highly successful outreach programme in the New Forest called New Dimensions, creating new work for a range of community groups, visiting several times through the year and finishing off with a very well received performance in a tree house in September.
“There have been numerous notable commissions at Vossa Jazz since the very first in 1983, but it’s hard to imagine there have been many quite as compelling as Nils Økland’s “Glødetrådar.” – Ian Patterson, All about Jazz
Nils Økland (Hardanger fiddle/violin/viola d’amore) is a renowned master of Norway’s national instrument the Hardanger fiddle.
A pioneer who is creatively expanding the range of the traditional music of his homeland his outlook goes far beyond traditional music. He describes his own music as a "hybrid between the poetry of folk music and the energy of punk".
Both as an instrumentalist and as a composer he interlaces elements of classical and contemporary music as well as jazz with traditional Norwegian expressions, finding common traits and not least common expressive mindsets across genres and time periods.
Nils collaborates regularly with musicians such as Christian Wallumrød and Arve Henriksen and works both with classical (including London Sinfonietta), folk, rock and jazz musicians, including the improvisation band 1982, and the rock trio Lumen Drones.
On Glimmer:
"quietly exquisite collection of folk tunes and original compositions … sound both ancient and bang up to date." - The Strad
"It’s like the music comes out of the earth manifesting itself by way of two musicians channelling its power and importance, thereby retelling old and new stories through the captivating music they play." - UK Vibe
"It’s very rare to encounter music as beautiful as this, that can be returned to again and again and release new pleasures every time." - London Jazz News
