Falgren Busk Duo

It’s not strictly a Danish folk release, but Duet by the Falgren Busk Duo (that’s Bjarke Falgren and Nikolaj Busk to us lesser mortals) certainly is a joy. Violinist and violist Falgren comes from jazz while Nikolj Busk is perhaps best-known for his work in Trio Mio and with Sussie Nielsen. It’s a beautiful set of miniatures that seems to owe much of its inspiration to contemporary northern European classical music, with strands of folk in there, as well as some delicious jazz improvisation. The basis of many of the pieces might be relatively simple, but that bared-down simplicity is much of the joy here. Both are superb musicians and it’s lovely to here Busk given some room to play (a solo album is definitely in order). The brevity of the pieces gives them a jewel-like quality, and there sweet melancholy in something like “Song For Aly,” where the piano and violin – you can hardly call it a fiddle here – trade off. The deliciously whimsical drawings of the cover and booklet set it all off well . You can hear folk music peeking through here and there in the themes, but it’s just one slender strand in something that happily stands outside genre. Rarely does the disc stand out as being especially Nordic, but what is readily apparent is the meeting of minds here, a fertile common ground. It’s melodic, but also takes chances and showcases the compositional skills of both men (as well as some prodigious but understated technique). Absolutely lovely.