In her native Sweden, Lena Jonsson is one of the best-known folk musicians today. The virtuoso violinist has already received numerous awards. Lena Jonsson celebrates a fresh, modern and above all open view of the folk tradition and draws inspiration from many different musical styles from all over the world. This is no different with her third album “Elements”. Lena Jonsson has composed all the album tracks from scratch. Although she is oriented towards traditional Swedish folk music, the songs skilfully take impulses from jazz, rock and bluegrass. The result: these sounds are traditional and modern at the same time! The Lena Jonsson Trio combines traditional Scandinavian shepherd instruments such as the cow horn played by Lena’s father with the latest synth sounds and the African instruments balafon and mbira. Lena Jonsson on violin receives top-class musical support from Erik Ronström on guitar and Krydda Sundström on bass as part of the trio.
“I want the album to feel like a place you can visit. The idea is that the listener should linger in the album. The pieces represent different feelings and states of mind, which I hope the listeners can feel,” says Lena Jonsson about the background of “Elements”. Most of the pieces were written after the pandemic. “They represent the beginning of something new for me. But the tracks also reflect the insecurities we had to deal with after Corona died down,” she adds.
Lena Jonsson was born in northern Sweden, in the Hälsingland region with its rich folk tradition. In her family, everyone plays the fiddle! She inherited most of her repertoire from her father. At the age of 11, Lena Jonsson formed her first band and is now considered one of the most influential folk artists in Scandinavia.
The musician studied Swedish folk music at the Royal Academy of Music in Stockholm and continued her studies in jazz and American roots music at Berklee College of Music in Boston. Lena Jonsson wrote all her album songs herself. You can hear the influences of her various musical inspirations! The stylistic spectrum ranges from humorous Scottish folk dances to melancholic waltzes and virtuoso polkas. Her second album “Stories From The Outside” won both a Swedish Grammi and the prestigious Manifest Prize in 2021 and was named Album of the Year by LIRA Music Magazine. Lena Jonsson has already performed in front of Greta Thunberg and Barack Obama. “On stage she bubbles with joie de vivre and performs with the charisma of a rock star,” raves the Swedish press.
Year of Release: 2023
Catalogue-Number: NN170 / NN170LP