Around the world

Hello, friends.

First of all, thanks to all for getting on the map.

Next, focus on Norway. Here’s a new CD release showcasing J-Harp material from the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation archives.



The Norwegian Jew's Harp Forum has released a double CD compilation called "Fille-Vern - Old and new masters in Norwegian Jew's Harp tradition". The first CD contains archive recordings from 1937 to the '70s. The second CD gives samples of performances at the NMF festivals and the "Landskappleiken", the main national competition for traditional music, song and dance. Checkit!
Also from Norway, there’s a new release from Daniel Sandén-Warg & Sigurd Brokke called Rammeslag. Sigurd plays the j-harp and here’s a sample of his playing.


You can buy the CD or preview and purchase single mp3s here . It's not all j-harp music but it's good.

Again from Norway (I believe) is Ädne Seyland, a player who just knocked my socks off. No pyrotechnics, no special effects, just simple, beautiful playing. Enjoy.



If anyone knows where to get a hold of a Norwegian j-harp, please let me know.

Switching from Northern Europe, we go to India where Bharadwaj Sathavalli, senior engineer at Dell India R&D Centre, has a nice page and samples. He’s come up with what looks like a polyphonic j-harp. He calls it a HexaMorse and it is quite beautiful. Do visit his website or listen to his playing:





Let's move around the globe some more and visit Down Under. Hailing from the Tatarstan-Udmurtia region of Central Russia and now residing in Australia is multi award-winning, lovely voice ( and I must say attractive) Zulya Kamalova.



She has a new album called "3 Nights" that is already in the top 10 of the European World Music Charts. Go to her website for sound samples or read this review of her latest album. Here's a sample:




From Sicily by way of London, England, half Spanish and half Italian Gigi Damico , a sound engineer who has worked with artists such as Rickie Lee Jones, Gloria Gaynor, The Temptations, Blonde Redhead, and others has been working on "The Future Sound of Sicily", a production using the J-Harp, a traditional Sicilian instrument.



And of course, Nadishana is always pushing the envelope. Here he plays a set of five Vietnamese Dan Mois. Quite impressive.



Last but not least is the upcoming North American Jew's Harp Festival in August. It's listed in the events sections on the top right nav of this site. Checkit and be there.

Next time, I'd like to write about Tuva j-harps so if you have any info or samples, please let me know. Until then, toodle-oo, boing!