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Kristine Heebøll
Trio Mio
Go Danish Folk Music (www.gofolk.dk)
It's very rare when you receive a recording that upon first listen has you bolt-upright at attention. It's more rare when it is something as stripped down and direct as a trio of fiddle, guitar and piano. Danish violinist Kristine Heebøll's Trio Mio is one such exceptional recording. With Swedish guitarist and bouzouki player Jens Ulvsand and Danish pianist and accordionist Nikolaj Busk rounding out the trio, Heebøll and company do startling things with their simple tools. The opening polka, "Dad's 60th Birthday," could have been straight out of a Nordic folk-dance text book, but with bright, clear melody and unstoppable rhythm, they proceed to show that this is far from a folk-only endeavor. "The Lusty Waltz" is a roaring tour de force of ensemble playing that dances around a jazzy riff. A scratching bouzouki lays down the beat, the violin carries both melody and harmony roles, and a complex but sparing piano figure sets this magnificently apart from the 'thump-beat' the instrument is usually relegated to in Nordic dance music.
The solos are spectacular, the full trio stunning in its syncronicity, and the whole four minutes is one of those moments you will keep tracking back to after your first full and pleasing listen. This is only three songs into a 13 work recording that moves from vibrant folk through semi-classical elegance and round again to creative and unusual technique and execution. Trio Mio is destined to be one of those recordings you pass on to your friends, and they to theirs. - CF
CD available from cdRoots
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