HAL AND NIKOLAJ
Audio
-
1. The ant and the grasshopper
-
2. The Parachutes Are By The Door
Hal & Nikolaj are a fast developing new duo on the international folk scene. In 2009, their debut album, "Hal & Nikolaj", received both "Debut of the Year" and "Composer of the Year" at the Danish Music Awards Folk 2009.
The two young musicians have solid groundings in both the celtic and scandinavian traditions, but play chiefly their own compositions with an unsurpassed originality and musical presence.
The landscape, they take us through is a harmonious whole made up of contrasts: mature and playful, sparkling and thoughtful, ethereal and grounded. With their understated virtuosity and inventive arrangements, the two musicians make good use of the tools at their disposal. Both on stage and on their critically acclaimed debut album, their insistence on playing exactly as they please and rejection of artistic compromise is complemented by an ensnaring charm, giving their audience an unfailing musical experience.
Hal Parfitt-Murray grew up in Scotland and Australia, and has a solid background in the celtic fiddle tradition. He studied traditional music at the Carl Nielsen Academy, in Odense, Denmark, and composition at the International Centre for Music Studies at the University of Newcastle Upon Tyne.
Nikolaj Busk, trained at the the Rhythmic Academy in Copenhagen, and grew up on a musical diet of traditional Danish songs, Louis Armstrong and The Beatles, and was later adopted by folk music. Maybe it is this roving musical eye, and lack of musical prejudice that they both share that makes this marriage of cultures such a success.
