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Written in fRoots issue 333, 2011


MARIA KALANIEMI
Vilda Rosor
Aito AICD015 (2010)

Maria Kalaniemi is best known as an accordionist, but she’s been singing increasingly on her recent albums, and this one is mostly songs. She accompanies herself on accordion, joined by guitarist Olli Varis, Eero Grundström from Sväng on harmonium and harmonica, fiddler Arto Järvelä, bassist Pekka Lehti, singer/jouhikko player Pekko Käppi and touches of electric guitar and banjo.
     Maria is Finlands-Svensk, a native of the enclaves of western and south-western Finland whose prevailing language has been Swedish since the days when Finland was ruled by Sweden. So the songs are in Swedish - the poised narrative of the ballads Magdalena På Källebro and an Ostrobothnian variant of the well-known Sven I Rosengård, or the soaring, wave-rippling romantic self-composed title track. The instrumentals too are F-S in character, including a lyrical, chug-surging tango, the wild drive of a tune from Jeppo and a roistering jam on a traditional song from an old 78. There are also a couple of typically mad tunes by the late Swedish accordion innovator Lars Hollmer, who was a fellow-member of the international all-accordion Accordion Tribe.
     For those familiar with the poised serenity of much of her earlier work, this varied and exuberant forty minutes is a different aspect of Kalaniemi and, as the twinkle in her eye in the cover photo tells, she’s having fun.

www.aitorecords.com


© 2010 Andrew Cronshaw
 

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