SUSANNE LUNDENG TRIO

Foto: Guri Dahl

​Susanne Lundeng 
is one of Norway's most highly regarded folk musicians. She has her musical roots in the folk music of Northern Norway and has a distinctive sound as a fiddler, composer, singer, and musical freethinker.
With an ambivalent relationship to the art form and the old traditions that follow, Susanne has developed her sound over time and has received great acceptance within the international scene. In her interplay with renowned jazz musicians Nils-Olav Johansen and Erik Nylander, she explores the music through improvisational conversation. In her lyrics and melodies, Susanne Lundeng portrays the drama of life itself and its impact on both people and the landscape.
Her music has been described as profoundly melancholic, subdued, tender, and stormy.
"Følge" is violinist, singer, and composer Lundeng's 13th album.
Her musical language lies faithfully in the depths of the Northern Norwegian prime rhythm, a pulsating three-four beat with power and intensity and the poetic and musical lines of folk tunes.
Here, elongated, painterly musical images with the fiddle as narrator and small sensual observations in the lyrics are permanently close at hand.
The album has been titled "Følge". In old Norse belief, each person's companion is their guardian spirit, a companion in life from the cradle to the grave, and acts as a precursor and protector.
"We bring all the people we have met throughout our lives, and I am part of a playing and storytelling culture and bring the music, players, and memories with me. I experience that as my companion," says Susanne.
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​Musicians:                                                                                                                             Susanne Lundeng:
iddle, singing, and octave fiddle.                                                           
​Nils-Olav Johansen:
guitar, bass guitar, vocals, finger cymbals, wood organ, synth organ, piano, and clavinet.                                                                                                            Erik Nylander:
drums

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​Susanne Lundeng Trio:
Susanne Lundeng – fiddle/vocals, Nils-Olav Johansen – guitar/vocals, Erik Nylander – drums.
 
Susanne Lundeng has her musical roots in the folk music of northern Norway, and has developed a distinctive sound as a fiddler, composer, singer and musical freethinker. She was awarded a Spellemannspris (Norwegian Grammy) in the folk music category for her recording of fiddle tunes from the county of Nordland, and is one of Norway’s most highly regarded folk musicians.
 
In her interplay with renowned jazz musicians Nils-Olav Johansen and Erik Nylander, she explores the music through improvisational conversation. 
The Susanne Lundeng Trio has a range that extends from the most delicate, nearly inaudible tones to highly expressive, playfully rhythmic ensemble work.
In her lyrics and melodies, Susanne Lundeng portrays the drama of life itself and its impact on both people and the landscape.
Her music has been described as profoundly melancholic, subdued, tender and stormy.

                                                           
​The album «Hold dæ på vingan» («Stay on your wings») (2020 Heilo/Grappa) shows Susanne Lundeng’s strong need to explore outside the traditional musical borders, when she uses and mixes what she has collected of fiddle and folk tunes from Northern Norway with life’s tender intensity.
The last years she has developed from being one of Norway’s most celebrated fiddlers to being an award-winning text writer. In 2019 she received NOPA’s text award for the title song from her last album “Det va nære på” (“That was close”) (2018), her first release with self-written texts. The jury described it as “an innovative, banality-free treasure that is based on the big, as well as the simple questions, with playful and explorative language”. 
The fiddle is still in the centre when she, together with Nils-Olav Johansen and Swedish Erik Nylander, portrays a playful and expressive ensemble playing, colored by traditional music from the world in a symbiosis of jazz, folk singing and Northern Norwegian traditional music. 
 
RootsWorld/Chris Nickson, about “Hold dæ på vingan”:
-"The instrumental tracks are the huge leaps of imagination here, daring demonstrations of the faith the musicians have in each other."
 "There's breathless beauty in some of the fiddle playing, and the accompaniment is so subtle at times that it seems more like an indication than a fact." 
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Website:
http://www.susannelundeng.no

​Social media:
https://www.facebook.com/susanne.lundeng?ref=tn_tnmn
https://www.instagram.com/susannelundeng/
 
YouTube:
https://youtu.be/oErYy5hcqMA
https://youtu.be/gJAzpmiRKBs
 
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/artist/3M41smq0huQacQr6ITReJ0?si=7AwSVb-qRZK5EqC06ypXLQ
 
Recordlabel: https://grappa.no/no/label/heilo/
Booking/contact: kontakt@susannelundeng.no  Tlf: + 47 91172124

Foto: Martin Losvik