Frode Haltli: Avant Folk
Hubro
Avant Folk is a fine addition to the distinguished Hubro discography accordionist Frode Haltli (b. 1975) has been assembling since his label debut Vagabonde Blu appeared in 2014. His talents as a musician are, of course, impressively accounted for on the new release, but his gifts as a composer and ensemble leader are even more evident. It doesn't hurt that the talent he's gathered for the release is so formidable: Hardanger fiddler Erlend Apneseth, violinist Hans P. Kjorstad, saxophonist Rolf-Erik Nystrøm, trumpeter Hildegunn Øiseth, guitarists Juhani Silvola and Oddrun Lilja Jonsdottir, keyboardist Ståle Storløkken, double bassist Fredrik Luhr Dietrichson, and drummer Siv Øyunn Kjenstad—as close to a dream ensemble as any leader could wish for.
The classically trained Haltli has done much throughout his career to expand on the range of music associated with the accordion, and that very clearly continues on the new release. Its five tracks exemplify strong traditional folk roots in their themes and melodies, but traces of chamber classical and contemporary jazz emerge also; often the music sidesteps genre classification altogether, never more noticeably than during the third piece, the mighty “Kingo,” which possesses something of the character of a psychedelic raga. It's the opener, “Hug,” that immediately catches the listener's attention, however, not just for the different members' contributions but also for the unusual melodic and rhythmic details that give the piece such distinctive character. There's the galumphing, accordion-driven rhythm with which it begins, for instance, as well as a joyously singing folk theme voiced rousingly by Apneseth and Kjorstad and a quasi-funky pan-African groove. The piece also includes an elegant solo by Øiseth, free playing by the collective, and a jubilant turn by the leader before the theme and stepping rhythm reimpose themselves a final time.
Smaller-group interplay's featured on the mournful dirge “Trio,” the leader sitting this one out to let the string players trade flutter and strum and Apneseth ooze heartache as only a Hardanger fiddler can. Rivaling “Hug” in scope are the aformentioned “Kingo,” a tribal-thumping, jam-styled set-piece bolstered by aggressive guitar soloing and Haltli's feverish flourishes, and the thirteen-minute travelogue “Neid,” which advances patiently through multiple folk-tinged episodes, among them emotionally charged fiddle and accordion spotlights and an equally powerful electric guitar turn, before resolving itself in a lovely, hymn-like coda that'll leave your skin tingling. Though it's issued under Haltli's name, Avant Folk (co-produced by him and Maja S.K. Ratkje, incidentally) is very much a group effort, and that its arrangements aren't credited to the leader alone but to all the musicians feels right. This is an album where the leader's voice is key but hardly the only one.September 2018