MERIT HEMMINGSON/TROLLSKOG 4E 062-34604 (-72) SWEDEN

For artist background check post on her second album "Merit Hemmingson Plays". That was jazz/pop hammond interpretations of known songs, some reminding of Booker-T & The MG:s. After continuing the same idiom for a third RCA LP - "Merit!" - she switched label to Columbia and changed direction to Swedish traditional, resulting in an album trilogy - "Huvva!" (Yikes!), Trollskog" (Troll Forest) and "Bergtagen" (Bewitched) - where folk music, hymns, kulning (herding calls) and other pastoral tunes were transformed to jazz, pop and rock. This, the second, is subtitled "mer svensk folkmusik på beat" (more Swedish folk music on beat). It's divided into two suites, both stringing bits and pieces from more or less ancient Swedish music tradition into coherent sets of modern presentation. Hemmingson does all organ, some moog and most of the vocals as wordless tuning, humming or kulning. Backing mostly folk jazz played by studio musicians Janne Schaffer, Björn J:son Lindh and Sabu Martinez among many others, together with professional folk music practitioners. It's hard to pick any favourite track since it all stick together. I guess there are two ways listening to it - either you're already familiar with the underlying tradition and then it'll come rather natural, or you're not and it will take lots of good work to get in. No run-of-the-mill folk album, but interesting as it is. To my knowledge released in Sweden only, also on cassette (same number) and 1992 CD (EMI 4750192). Premiere vinyl had label as shown here and laminated fold/out cover. (FÄV*) (SCÄ*) (CCÖ*)