LENA WILLEMARK | ALE MÖLLER – Nordan (1994) FLAC (tracks+.cue), lossless

While in Sweden in 1992 for the premier performance of Arvo Pärt’s Silouan's Song, producer Manfred Eicher and the Estonian composer took time out to visit a folk-festival held in the vicinity. Entering a church by the shores of Lake Siljan they heard a trio called Frifot perform traditional songs of uncommon purity and power. The group featured the multi-instrumentalist Ale Möller, singer/fiddler Lena Willemark, and Per Gudmundson, also on fiddle. Eicher at once determined to record these musicians and the question of appropriate context was discussed over the next year and a half. Nordan, the album that is the outcome of that almost accidental meeting, marks a departure for all participants. It is a remarkable ECM debut and sheds new light on such perennial ECM concerns as the "Idea of the North", the documentation of Scandinavian creativity, and the contemporary validity of "early music" in all its guises.

Nordan – the title alludes to the fierce northerly wind that buffets the Swedish coastline – features music based upon medieval ballads and folk songs, performed by musicians from the living Swedish folk tradition and from the world of improvisation. The lyrics were selected and edited by Lena Willemark. Arrangements were written by Ale Moller, who also provided additional compositions in the spirit of the project.
Lena met Ale Möller at a fiddlers' convention and folk festival in Sweden in 1984. "We had a little jam session and it worked really well, and we both liked each other from the beginning. So we decided to carry on, together with Per Gudmundson. We've all worked together in different groups and on each other's solo projects ever since".

Of the Nordan music, Ale Möller notes, "For a long time, Lena and I have talked about finding a form that would combine the qualities of the roots with a bigger freedom. Our idea was to go behind the current tradition - based on the music of the village fiddlers of 100 to 150 years ago - to the fascinating repertoire of medieval ballads. Each time we have tried this, we have been overwhelmed by the good musical spirit these pieces give us. In a way, they invite us to a more open-minded musical landscape."

Nordan is an inspired instance of musical reconstruction: "What is left of the medieval music is a treasure-trove of vocal material. Very little instrumental music remains from the days before the fiddle. You can still find a few ancient ballads sung in living tradition today but most of them are to be discovered only in transcriptions in the archives. The bulk of the record, then, goes back to fragmentary documents: we have used our knowledge of tradition to breathe life into them. For us it has been a fascinating work, and has taken up a lot of time - for the songs, as well as the combination of sounds, were new even for us".

As for Willemark's singing: here, the larger world was able to discover for the first time, what the Swedish inner circle had already known for a while, that she is an artist of the first rank. Her immensely graceful negotiation of the ornaments of the melodic lines is more than impressive, as is the emotional range she brings to bear on the material and the electrifying power of the herding-call that brings the album to a climax on "Vallsvit". Throughout the recording, the freshness and the vibrancy of her singing cuts straight to the heart. Subsequent ECM releases Agram, Frifot as well as collaborations with Anders Jormin on In Winds, In Light and Trees of Light would further document Willemark’s unique voice. ecm
Tracklist :
1    Trilo 1'15
Traditional
Arranged By – Ale Möller
Vocals – Ale Möller, Lena Willemark, Per Gudmundson
2    Kom Helge Ande 3'06
Traditional
Arranged By – Ale Möller
Double Bass – Palle Danielsson
Mandola – Ale Möller
Vocals – Lena Willemark
3    Gullharpan 6'33
Traditional
Arranged By – Ale Möller
Double Bass – Palle Danielsson
Fiddle [Drone-Fiddle], Kantele – Mats Edén
Mandola – Ale Möller
Percussion – Björn Tollin, Tina Johansson
Soprano Saxophone – Jonas Knutsson
Vocals – Lena Willemark
4    Mannelig 4'35
Traditional
Arranged By – Ale Möller
Double Bass – Palle Danielsson
Harp [Folk-Harp] – Ale Möller
Vocals – Lena Willemark
5    Polska Efter Roligs Per 3'00
Traditional
Arranged By – Ale Möller, Per Gudmundson
Fiddle – Per Gudmundson
Mandola – Ale Möller
6    Hornlåt 2'12
Traditional
Arranged By – Ale Möller, Per Gudmundson
Fiddle – Per Gudmundson
Mandola – Ale Möller
7    Sven I Rosengård 5'39
Traditional
Alto Saxophone – Jonas Knutsson
Arranged By – Ale Möller
Double Bass – Palle Danielsson
Fiddle – Mats Edén
Mandola, Flute [Drone-Flutes], Dulcimer [Hammered Dulcimer] – Ale Möller
Percussion – Björn Tollin, Tina Johansson
Vocals – Lena Willemark
8    S:t Göran Och Draken 6'14
Traditional
Arranged By – Ale Möller
Double Bass – Palle Danielsson
Fiddle [Drone-Fiddle] – Mats Edén
Percussion – Björn Tollin, Tina Johansson
Shawm – Ale Möller
Soprano Saxophone – Jonas Knutsson
Vocals – Lena Willemark
9    Tacker Herranom / Mats Hansu Polskan 4'06
Traditional
Arranged By – Ale Möller
Double Bass – Palle Danielsson
Fiddle – Per Gudmundson
Mandola – Ale Möller
Vocals, Fiddle – Lena Willemark
10    Knut Hauling 5'51
Traditional
Arranged By – Ale Möller
Bagpipes [Swedish Bagpipes] – Per Gudmundson
Bells – Tina Johansson
Fiddle [Drone-Fiddle] – Mats Edén
Horn [Cow-Horn], Mandola – Ale Möller
Percussion [Drone-Drum] – Jonas Knutsson
Tambourine – Björn Tollin
Vocals – Lena Willemark
11    Polska Efte Jones Olle 3'02
Traditional
Arranged By – Mats Edén, Per Gudmundson
Fiddle – Per Gudmundson
Fiddle [Drone-Fiddle] – Mats Edén
12    Svanegångare / Sven Svanehvit 6'49
Arranged By – Ale Möller
Composed By – Ale Möller, Traditional
Double Bass – Palle Danielsson
Fiddle [Drone-Fiddle] – Mats Edén
Mandola, Flute – Ale Möller
Vocals – Lena Willemark
13    Jemsken 1'51
Traditional
Arranged By – Ale Möller, Lena Willemark
Double Bass – Palle Danielsson
Fiddle – Lena Willemark
Mandola – Ale Möller
Soprano Saxophone – Jonas Knutsson
14    Båtsman / Turklåten 3'28
Traditional
Arranged By – Ale Möller
Double Bass – Palle Danielsson
Fiddle [Drone-Fiddle] – Mats Edén
Mandola – Ale Möller
Vocals, Fiddle – Lena Willemark
15    Vallsvit 4'57
Composed By – Ale Möller
Double Bass – Palle Danielsson
Fiddle [Drone-Fiddle] – Mats Edén
Flute [Natural Flutes] – Ale Möller
Percussion – Björn Tollin, Jonas Knutsson, Tina Johansson
Voice [Herding-Call] – Lena Willemark
16    Drömspår - Efterspel 1'51
Accordion – Ale Möller
Composed By – Ale Möller
Double Bass [Bass-Drone] – Palle Danielsson

LENA WILLEMARK | ALE MÖLLER – Agram (1996) FLAC (image+.cue), lossless

Agram represents the second coming of the 'Nordan Project' whose 1994 release Nordan was highly acclaimed. Defined by its co-leaders vocalist Lena Willemark and multi-instrumentalist Ale Möller as 'a meeting-place for Swedish folk musicians and musicians from the world of improvisation,' the group's music is based upon, but not limited by, the Swedish folk tradition. Willemark and Möller select the songs, some of which are hundreds of years old, and write new material and fresh arrangements. Möller's unorthodox biography has included extended stopovers in rock and jazz and Greek music on the way to his current, and enduring, commitment to Swedish folk. Willemark, the daughter of a forest-keeper, embodie's the musical tradition giving it new life with her stunning vocal abilities. Together, the Nordan Project is concerned both with the preservation and the rejuvenation of the folk tradition. Möller and Willemark met ECM's Manfred Eicher by chance in 1992 when the musicians were appearing at a folk-festival while the producer was in town for a Arvo Pärt premiere. Over the next year and half they discussed the form that their collaboration should take and the Nordan Project was born. A key figure in its line-up is bassist Palle Danielsson, who has been associated with ECM almost from the beginning of its history. He has been a member of several important ECM bands including Keith Jarrett's 'Belonging' group, the Jan Garbarek-Bobo Stenson Quartet, the quartets of Enrico Rava and Charles Lloyd. ecm
Tracklist :
1    Syster Glas (Sister Glass) 3'33
Double Bass – Palle Danielsson
Fiddle [Drone-Fiddle] – Mats Edén
Mandola – Ale Möller
Soprano Saxophone – Jonas Knutsson
Written-By – Ale Möller
2    Agram (The Wild Oats) 3'13
Arranged By – Ale Möller
Double Bass – Palle Danielsson
Fiddle [Drone-Fiddle] – Mats Edén
Hammered Dulcimer [Hackbräde (Hammered Dulcimer)] – Ale Möller
Soprano Saxophone – Jonas Knutsson
Vocals, Fiddle – Lena Willemark
Written-By – Lena Willemark
3    Såsom Fågelen (As A Bird) 4'52
Traditional
Arranged By – Ale Möller
Fiddle [Drone-Fiddle] – Mats Edén
Harp [Folk-Harp] – Ale Möller
Soprano Saxophone – Jonas Knutsson
Vocals – Lena Willemark
4    Fastän (Although) 2'47
Arranged By – Ale Möller, Jonas Knutsson, Mats Edén, Tina Johansson
Berimbau – Tina Johansson
Fiddle [Drone-Fiddle] – Mats Edén
Mandola – Ale Möller
Soprano Saxophone – Jonas Knutsson
Written-By – Eva Saether
5    Björnen (The Bear) 5'46
Baritone Saxophone, Vocals – Jonas Knutsson
Double Bass – Palle Danielsson
Lyrics By [Text] – Traditional
Music By – Ale Möller
Percussion, Vocals – Tina Johansson
Performer [Pulse-Iron] – Mats Edén
Trumpet [Wooden Trumpet], Vocals – Ale Möller
Vocals, Voice [Herding Call] – Lena Willemark
6    Samsingen (The Ballad Of Samsingen) 7'22
Traditional
Arranged By – Ale Möller
Double Bass – Palle Danielsson
Fiddle [Drone-Fiddle] – Mats Edén
Mandola – Ale Möller
Percussion – Tina Johansson
Percussion [Additional Percussion] – Jonas Knutsson
Vocals – Lena Willemark
7    Per Andsu Lietjin (The Per Andsu Tune) 2'00
Traditional
Arranged By – Ale Möller, Lena Willemark, Palle Danielsson
Double Bass – Palle Danielsson
Fiddle – Lena Willemark
Mandola – Ale Möller
8    Josef Från Arimatea (Joseph Of Arimathea) 5'32
Traditional
Arranged By – Ale Möller
Lute – Ale Möller
Lyrics By [Text Verses 2 ?– 3] – Stefan Demert
Vocals – Lena Willemark
9    Lager Och Jon (The Ballad Of Lager And Jon) 5'40
Traditional
Arranged By – Ale Möller, Lena Willemark, Mats Edén
Double Bass – Palle Danielsson
Fiddle [Drone-Fiddle] – Mats Edén
Harmonium, Percussion [Additional Percussion] – Jonas Knutsson
Mandola, Shawm [Skalmeja (Shawm)] – Ale Möller
Percussion – Tina Johansson
Vocals, Viola – Lena Willemark
10    Blåmåiri (The Blue Moor) 4'21
Arranged By – Ale Möller
Flute – Ale Möller
Soprano Saxophone – Jonas Knutsson
Vocals – Lena Willemark
Written-By – Lena Willemark
11    Slängpolskor (Fling Dances) 5'02
Traditional
Arranged By – Ale Möller
Double Bass – Palle Danielsson
Fiddle [Drone-Fiddle] – Mats Edén
Percussion – Tina Johansson
Shawm [Skalmeja (Shawm)] – Ale Möller
Viola – Lena Willemark
12    Elvedansen (The Dance Of The Fairies) 8'46
Double Bass – Palle Danielsson
Fiddle [Drone-Fiddle] – Mats Edén
Lute – Ale Möller
Lyrics By [Text] – Traditional
Music By – Ale Möller
Percussion – Tina Johansson
Soprano Saxophone – Jonas Knutsson
Vocals – Lena Willemark
13    Simonpolskan (Simon’s Tune) 4'32
Fiddle [Drone-Fiddle] – Mats Edén
Lute – Ale Möller
Percussion – Tina Johansson
Soprano Saxophone – Jonas Knutsson
Written-By – Ale Möller, Mats Edén