Egeland/Edén/Marin Vol.1

This project brings together Ånon Egeland, Mats Edén and Mikael Marin asa trio. Incredibly, although the three of them have known each other for decades, they have never before played together in this format. They’ve been mulling this project for a long time, but only now has it come to fruition.

Each of these musicians has, in his own characteristic way, created a distinc­tive style within Scandinavian tradition­al music, and each has collaborated with groups and on albums that have been key to the development of today’s Scan­dinavian folk scene. Ånon has released several important albums under his own name, while Mats Edén has been as central to Sweden’s Groupa as Mikael has to Väsen.

The trio’s project takes traditional tunes as its starting point, most of which were brought to the table by Ånon – some from his large, existing repertoire and some from little ­known manuscript collections. Apart from one march, all are dance tunes: springars/springdans/polskas, hallings, waltzes, reinlenders and trippars. The trio then came up with arrangements that show how the tradition(s) can be renewed and updated from within, as it were – without drums, bass or guitars – yet still sound youthful, contemporary and fresh.

The album was recorded in Rauland over a few days in December 2018, at the studio of the Department of Norwegian Folk Culture, part of the University of South­Eastern Norway. The arrangements were produced on the spot: the versions on the album are unique and never absolutely identical to the versions you’ll hear at the trio’s live performances.

Booklet with transcriptions of the tunes for you to play – and hi-res audio files at BandCamp



Ånon Egeland

Ånon Egeland has got his tradition from legendary fiddlers of Agder, and is best known as a promoter of this musical heritage. Ånon has a very personal style of play clearly rooted in tradition, and he has a large repertoire of rare tunes. Since he debuted on LP in 1977, he has participated in a dozen albums with the best tradition musicians in Scandinavia, he has spread his music in 22 countries on four continents. He has worked full time as a teacher in traditional music since 1988, and at the Institute of Folk Culture at Rauland, University College Southeast Norway, since 1999.

Mats Edén

Mats Edén is without doubt one of Sweden’s foremost performers of folk and world music. With roots in the traditional music of Värmland he has developed into a highly respected musician. Besides Mats being an established solo spelman (fiddler) he also plays in a number of different constellations – both permanent and temporary. In combination with life as a musician Mats is also active as a composer and teacher.

Mikael Marin

Mikael is a violist who isn't satisfied with merely playing "second fiddle." His influences are literally unlimited in their scope, and oscillate between Schöenberg and the Beatles. He became a national fiddler in 1983, and was chosen to play in a world orchestra under the direction of Leonard Bernstein in 1989. When not performing with Väsen, he composes, produces, and arranges music for artists such as Mikael Samuelsson, Nordman, and Kronos Quartet. He composed (together with Mats Wester) the opening music to the World Police and Fire Games in Stockholm, 1999. Mikael can be heard on several recordings, for example Nordman (with Nordman), Barfota (with Mikael Samuelsson), Ånon (with Ånon Egeland, released on NorthSide), and Flow my Tears (with The Forge Players).