Geitungen
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Geitungen

Oslo, Oslo County, Norway | MAJOR

Oslo, Oslo County, Norway | MAJOR
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This band has not uploaded any videos

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Press


"CD review: GEITUNGEN - Bra Kast! Heilo HCD7204 (2005)"

Fiddle, hardingfele, mandola, guitar and melodeon, and the important foot-stamp; Haugesund trio gelling well in a lively and well-chosen set of Norwegian dance tunes including springar, hopsar, reinlender, halling and waltz, played with spirited lift and - a given if one gets to make an album on a Norwegian trad label - mastery.

Andrew Cronshaw
www.cloudvalley.com
www.frootsmag.com - fROOTS issue 273, 2006


"CD review: Geitungen - BRA KAST"


A new acquaintance for me is this Norwegian trio, and what wonderful discovery it was. They play traditional and new written Norwegian folk music so the bows, strings and buttons literally are on fire. Håvard Ims, melodeon, Olav Christer Rossebø, fiddle, mandola and guitar, and Vidar Skrede on hardanger fiddle, ordinary fiddle and guitar seems to have had a really great time in studio. Musical joy from first note to the last. The whole record is one big vitamin injection and tunes like Torbjørnvalsen, Gudmunddansen, Bruraslag and two Hopsar's after Ivar Fuglestad makes a strong contribute to this. Absolutely the greatest album I have listened to this year.

Micke Forsberg
www.lira.se - Lira 4-2005


"Review of concert at Nordsjøfestivalen in Farsund 2002"

The most pleasant surprise of the evening was the quite newestablished band Geitungen from Haugesund – three versatile musicians with sparkles and great musicality. With youthful presumption they change instruments already after the first tune and continue this out through the whole concert. But it surely sounds great! - and the repertoire is exciting: Bjerkreim tunes in refined arrangements with guitar, two row accordeon, fiddles, whistles, but also own written tunes in untimid performance. The inspiration comes from many sides, not the least from the Celtic in the west and the Agder counties in the south. Geitungen can in some of their numbers sound like a new and fresh version of Ånon Egeland and Per Midtstigen on their early records.

Kjell Bitustøyl - Spelemannsbladet 7/02


"CD review: Geitungen Bra Kast Heilo"

Hailing from Rogaland in the southwest of Norway, this young trio has its feet firmly planted in the traditional music of that area. This is their second album if you don't count the little demo that preceded their debut, Vaniljesaus. Using the basic ingredients of fiddle, guitar, and accordion, they conjure up a sweet, unaffected sound. Håvard Ims' work on accordion is sure-footed and rhythmic. He nimbly tackles off-kilter meters on "Halling" and keeps it sweet and simple on the waltzes. Vidar Skrede anchors things with his able fiddle and hardanger playing. His work on "Springar" and "Brautaslåtten" has an atavistic feel, drony and modal. Olav Christer Rossebø is light-fingered and squeaky clean on mandolin, mandola, and guitar. He has a lovely mandola solo on "Bruraslag," giving the piece the feel of a Renaissance pavane. The overall sound strikes a fine balance between delicacy and drive. The dancier pieces have a nice swing to them, and the slower numbers are tender without being overwrought. They don't stray into the avant-garde arrangements, atonality, and extended chords so favored by many Scandinavian bands out there. Keeping it close to tradition and close to the vest works for this group right now.

Peggy Latkovich - RootsWorld


Discography

Geitungen: Langt Ute (Far Out) 2010
Record company/label: Grappa/Heilo.
Catalog number: HCD7255

Geitungen: Bra Kast (Great Throw) 2005
Record company/label: Grappa/Heilo.
Catalog number: HCD7204

Geitungen: Vaniljesaus (2001)
Own production.

Photos

Bio

The trio Geitungen presents tunes that were once popular with party-goers in the hinterland of Rogaland county, tunes that were dance-floor favourites – the hits of yesteryear. Geitungen play the tunes in the rhythmic fashion that they were played then and there. The three musicians’ fiddles, melodeon, mandolin, hardanger fiddle, mandola and guitars combine to colour the soundboard. The expression is straightforward and the music ranges from cosy, warm mazurka to hotheaded hopsars and plaintive waltzes, sometimes with elements of more contemporary popular music styles in the arrangements. With their capricious and compelling playing, Geitungen take you back, far out to the poorly lit dance floors of the more festive parts of rural Rogaland.

Geitungen has released three albums so far, Langt Ute (2010), Bra Kast (2005) and Vaniljesaus (2001). The two last ones are released on Grappa’s folk music label Heilo. Langt ute is a follow-up to the album Bra Kast which won a Norwegian Folk Music Award in 2005 for best album in the open/experimental class. Bra Kast featured traditional tunes from all over Rogaland, while Langt Ute concentrates chiefly on the Bjerkreim tradition.

Geitungen consists of:

Vidar Skrede on hardanger fiddle, fiddle and guitars. He is a freelance musician and a member of numerous Nordic bands, like The Great Norwegian Guitar Quartet, NOMAS, The Secret Carpet Club, Fant&Fente, Aamos, Stimenn, and Vidar Skrede Dynamo Band. He has a master’s degree in Nordic folk music from the Royal School of Music in Stockholm.

Christer Rossebø plays fiddle, mandolin, mandola and guitar on the album. A freelance musician, known from bands like Bergen Mandolin Band, Earlybird Stringband, Fant&Fente and Filibuster, Christer is a candidate in folk music performance at the Norwegian Academy of Music in Oslo.

Håvard Ims plays melodeons on the album. He is a former Norwegian champion on the instrument.

These three guys met as teenagers and have been playing together since 1997, which makes Geitungen a band over 10 years old, and one of the oldest Norwegian folk music bands existing of to day. Together they have been playing for dancing, concerts and tours in several countries, and on festivals like Nordsjøfestivalen in Farsund, Skandinavisk folketone, Hilmarfestivalen, Jørn Hilme-stemnet, Riddu Riððu, Den norske folkemusikkveka, Folkekulturfestivalen, Vikedal Roots Music Festival and Shetland Folk Festival. They also have been seen and heard in TV and radio in several countries, and had live concert at Studio 19 on NRK's (The Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation) radio.

Geitungen is in the front line of Norwegian folk musicians inspired by their time of to day and the tradition. They represent a living expression and offer the tradition a fresh breath straight into the ear.