by Cliff Furnald
Frå Senegal til Setesdal [Grappa / Norway] is a simple yet stunning recording. Kirsten Bråten Berg is one of Norway's best-known folk singers... voice like an angel territory here. Here she and her munnharpe (Jew's harp) are joined by Senegalese musicians Solo Cissokho on vocals and kora and Kouame Sereba on voice, do-do (a African mouth harp) and djembe. Norwegian Bjørgulv Straume fills out the quartet on munnharpe and voice. It's a very simple collection of instruments, some of the oldest and most basic in the world, but the music they make is quite unusual and beautiful.
These are mostly Norwegian folk songs and fiddle tunes, sometimes played straight as pure vocal pieces, other times mixed with new African lyrics and rhythms to create something that is still effectively Norwegian, but clearly a product of creative thinking and deep feeling on the part of all four musicians. This is not some cagey cross-culture experiment made for the times. These musicians seem to intuitively know each other and their roots, and they bring out one another's best impulses. Frå Senegal til Setesdal will not rattle your or confuse you with esoteric cleverness. It will make you listen, sharpen your senses and bring a smile to your fusion-weary face.
This is an excerpt from Dirty Linen #78
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© 1998 Dirty Linen, Ltd., Baltimore MD
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