I am proud and happy to be part of the trio Kaldestad with singer and composer Gyrid Nordal Kaldestad and guitarist Are Lothe Kolbeinsen. Our debut album "Stille, stille" (Quiet) is released in November 2016 on label Atterklang, and we are performing release concerts in Trondheim, Oslo, Moss and Stord 5th to 10th of November.
Slagr won the Norwegian Grammy at the Grammy awards (Spellemannprisen) on Saturday 30th of January; we are thrilled!! We won the prize of the open category for our album "short stories". The other nominees were Morten Qvenild for the album "Personal piano", Geir Sundstøl for the album "Furulund", Erland Dahlen for the album "Blossom bells" and Jaga Jazzist for "Starfire". Check them out!
Five years ago I started working on composing a musical response to the short story "On an old farmstead in Europe" by Hans Herbjørnsrud. Today, I think the music has its own life regardless of the short story, but Herbjørnsrud's unique literary universe has been essential for the atmosphere of the music. We would like to thank author Hans Herbjørnsrud for his timeless short stories, Therese Asker for helping us out for so many years, Jonas Niederstadt for excellent sound work, Hoff church for a wonderful recording room and atmosphere, Our label Ozella, Norsk kulturråd (Culture council Norway) for financial support. Thank you to Lars Henrik Johansen, Andreas Mjøs and Nils Økland for their contributions to our music, which means so much for us. And thank you to the jury for listening to short stories and picking it out among such incredible artists. Photos: Kjell Bitustøyl Slagr is nominated for Spellemannprisen, the Norwegian Grammy Awards,for our album short stories, and I am so happy and proud. I composed most of the music for the album based on short stories by author Hans Herbjørnsrud, his literature is truly unique and timeless, and is a true gift for imagination and inspiration. The photo shows me and my dear Slagr colleague Amund Sjølie Sveen at the press conference of the nomination announcements.
"They mirror our own time through tradition. This is musical novella art at its finest." Bjørn Hammershaug has reviewed Slagr's album "short stories" for folkemusikk.no, adding: it's an album you just have to hear!
"Tradition and modernity meet in a sensuous landscape of mysticism and impressions from nature as well as magical, hypnotic moods." A wonderful review of Slagr album "short stories" in Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten today!
Slagr album "short stories" is now available both on WIMP and on the high fidelity music streaming service Tidal. Check it out here: http://listen.tidalhifi.com/album/43309687
or here: http://wimp.no/album/43309687 Today we are recording music for a film documentary to be premiered on Norwegian television autumn 2015. Sound engineer Andreas Mjøs makes us sound Slagr at our very best!
The first review of upcoming Slagr album "short stories" is here! "Short stories" receives 9 out of 10 points from Der Hörspiegel: "A wonderful, meditative journey is offered to the listener - a perfect escape from our hectic, daily life and a return to self."
Album release April 23rd. |
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