SÅ NÆRE VI VAR, en hyllest til Lillebjørn Nilsen med Kari Svendsen, Lars Klevstrand og Steinar Ofsdal
Description:
One can hardly get closer to the source itself, closer to the man and musician Lillebjørn Nilsen, than when Kari Svendsen, Lars Klevstrand and Steinar Ofsdal join forces to interpret and pay tribute to their good friend of many years.
If any concert can rightly be called historic, it's this one.
The four comrades Nilsen, Svendsen, Ofsdal and Klevstrand have formed the bedrock of the Norwegian song tradition - through writing lyrics and music, and through communicating and developing the song tradition.
Many songs, many flute notes and many guitar and banjo chords have passed since the four friends met. Lillebjørn Nilsen (1950-2024), Kari Svendsen, Steinar Ofsdal and Lars Klevstrand were close friends and fellow musicians since their early teens.
The collaboration resulted in everything from Svendsen becoming Lillebjørn's childhood sweetheart and first wife, via Ofsdal's tours and LP releases with Lillebjørn to The Young Norwegians (1966-69), På stengrunn (1973, poems by Rudolf Nilsen), BALLADE! and much more.
Thus, Svendsen, Ofsdal and Klevstrand also have a large and colorful stock of funny and touching stories about Lillebjørn Nilsen to scoop from and offer.
-We can't say "together we become dynamite" because Nilsen was a peaceful soul, BUT we can promise a powerhouse of the town poet's warm and beautiful songs, says Lars Klevstrand.
-There will be many well-known and beloved songs, but we also have other favorites in the great musical legacy of Lillebjørn, songs that are not heard that often, says Kari Svendsen.
- And then there will be guitars in several forms, 5-string banjo, double bass, all kinds of flutes, cello and Harding fiddle, promises Steinar Ofsdal.
The trio Kari Svendsen, Steinar Ofsdal and Lars Klevstrand represent many aspects of Norwegian folk music and song history. Through the concert Så nære vi var and their story about Lillebjørn, this unique trio of our foremost folk artists will both deepen and expand the history of folk music itself.
