Hurv KRCD-16: I hambotagen

That's why most Swedes are seldom conscious of, or even hear, the qualities which are there in the "old-time" dances. If you ask someone what this old time dancing is, you often get a reply that supposes it's stuffy or clumsy. For the musicians playing on this record, it's more a question that this kind of music represents elegance. It's tempting to draw a parallel with the Argentinian tango, even if the popular character in Scandinavia is rather unlike the Latin - we're probably a bit more open for humour, which often enough can become something burlesque. But musically speaking, the agogic accent (the rythmic displacements) equally unfathomable and hard to learn in the hambo as in the tango - at least, you very seldom hear someone from another country who can play the hambo with the right feeling.

On this record you can hear how the "old time" dance may have sounded in a time when the expression "old time dance" wasn't even invented - then it was simply "dance". All the tunes come from the aural tradition and we have tried to be true to our models so that the music may be as danceable and enjoyable as possible.

Ulf Störling, diatonic accordeon and violin
Kjell Westling, clarinet
Anders Rosén, violin

list of tunes