The Chateu Neuf Spelemannslag (CNS), which emerged in 1994 at the University of Oslo, is a group that goes beyond this simple classificatory system. Featuring some nineteen odd instrumental players and vocalists, the group manages to infuse traditional Norwegian folk tunes with modern sentiments from genres such as jazz, swing, classical, and rock. In so doing, they pay tribute to the roots of nordic experience and acknowledge the continuity of that experience.
Music never stops. It evolves and responds to what lies around it.
With CNS, this means seizing upon the tools of the environment. While the traditional frame of their music has tended to make use of Norwegian instruments like the fiddle, hardingfele, and the accordian, CNS has added to the toolkit by incorporating such unconventional instruments as the saxaphone, guitar, and percussion instruments.
CNS musicians start with a strong sense of traditional Norwegian music, which they have learned by ear rather than sheet music. From there, they experiment with the sound collectively as a group, playing notes and rhythms off one another, layering and extending the conventional with a style of their own. Although they are often referred to as having a big band sound, the group is in fact not a band, but a spelemannslag, a term usually applied to conservationist fiddling collectives.
Because of their unusual style and composition, official recognition by the Langdlaget for Spelemen, an organization oriented towards the preservation of Norwegian folk music and dance, was somewhat controversial. This classification as a spelemannslag identifies the group as being "Norwegian folk," despite the fact that it ventures far beyond the typical baseline of that genre.
Chateu Neuf Spelemannslag has three CD's out: Spell (HEILO, 1995), Tjuvgods (GRAPPA, 1997), and Curing Norwegian Stiffness (HEILO, 2001). Tjuvgods, by the way, was released under the title Stolen Goods to a North-American audience.
If you like Norwegian folk music, this variation on the traditional is likely to intrigue. The sound remains true to the heart of its musical heritage and its interpretation is a delight to explore.
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