Norwegian Music In Red Hook

In the back room of Sunny’s, on a Monday night, with the bar closed, the neighborhood quiet, and the lights so dim that we had to dig a table lamp and extension cord out of a closet so we could see the charts, I rehearsed a set of Norwegian songs that I’ll be playing with Tone Johansen on Wednesday night. Tone (her name is pronounced “tuna”) sang with Kate and Lou and me on Saturday night as the fourth member of the Lost and Found Quartet; Sunny is her husband.

Although the songs are traditional, they are quite complex, very jazzy, and extraordinarily beautiful. Andy Cotton (who played bass with us and the Radio Band on Saturday night) will be accompanying, and I’ll be playing harp and taking breaks on a few songs. They’re all sung in Norwegian, which when it’s sung sounds like German, only softer, and Tone has a beautiful voice.

It’s a short set (40 minutes at most) on the late side for a weeknight (10pm) and not very convenient to get to, so I’m not promoting this as a gig, just really pleased to be playing on such a beautiful collection of tunes.