Lena Jonsson: Elements (LP)

Traditional Swedish folk music meets jazz, rock, and American old-time music. The result is wonderfully both old and modern at the same time. A daring—yet more than successful—combination of old traditional instruments such as the mbir and balafon with modern synthesizers, guitar (Erik Ronström), bass (Krydda Sundström), and Lena Jonsson’s violin. Jonsson grew up in a family of violinists in Hälsingland, a region in northern Sweden where Swedish folk music still plays a central cultural role today, and learned to play her instrument at a young age. After high school, following her studies in Swedish folk music in Stockholm, she went on to study jazz and American roots music in Boston—a combination that continues to strongly shape and influence her sound to this day. Her talent for combining her deep knowledge of Swedish folk with modern, artistic, and exuberant rock-star charisma has helped her become one of Sweden’s most visionary musicians. It’s no surprise that her latest album won not only a Swedish “Grammy” but also the Manifest Prize and was named Album of the Year by LIRA Magazine.