Hagenfesten 2011

To my dear Efpi co-founders (you ignorant fellows) this Swedish festival is known only as “oh, that naked violinist in the river festival”, however to me it’s now definitely one of the highlights of my musical year. Granted (i believe it was last year) there was a naked violinist in a river, but that’s not all Hagenfesten has to offer. The family run festival, situated in the idyllic village of Dala-floda, focusses on both improvised and folk music with some of the most interesting Swedish and international artists from these areas performing.

I attended as a volunteer for the first time this year and arrived (rather bleary eyed) on the Thursday morning after an all night drive down from Trondheim. There are probably around 100 – 150 attendees at the festival at any one time and whole thing is run beautifully and with much care by the family, extended family and volunteers. The opening concert was a solo performance by Mats Gustafsson in a light and spacious local church. This was a fantastic opener for the festival and some of my other highlights included a power solo performance from the incredible Joëlle Léandre, Fred Lonberg-holms’s band Seval were beautiful and the Strid/Gustafsson/Russell performance captivated the entire audience with their intense improvisation from start to finish.

I can’t recommend this festival enough, it manages to bring together so many inspiring artists from diverse backgrounds and give them a truly kind and generous community to share their ideas with. What more could one want (did i forget to mention the great food, daily out-door swimming, sauna, natural wine, tasty tasty beer….). I look forward to seeing all my new hagenfesten friends next year and soaking up the good music and vibes.

Claire James Trio on Radio 3

The Claire James Trio recently performed at a Proms Plus event at the Royal Albert Hall during the annual Proms season, and the live recording of the title track from their debut EP ‘Lines‘ was broadcast on BBC Radio 3 last week – you’ve got until tomorrow evening (Wednesday 3rd) to listen online via BBC iPlayer or take a listen to it below.

Claire James Trio – Lines (live at Proms Plus 22nd July 2011) by Efpi Records

Its been a busy couple of weeks for the trio – as well as the recording of ‘Lines’ and the Proms Plus performance, they also played at the Manchester Jazz Festival last week. There’s some great photos of the gig by Phil Portus up on flickr, there’s one below and check the rest out here.

And don’t forget to listen/download ‘Lines‘ if you haven’t already…

Beats & Pieces Big Band – Ronnie Scott’s, London

After their amazing debut appearance at Ronnie’s in January, Beats & Pieces are really excited to be playing there again in a double bill with the brilliant Kairos 4tet during Ronnie’s Brit Jazz Fest. Tickets sold out last time, get yours now from here – quick!