One of the reasons for establishing Horsk Munnharpeforum (Norwegian Jew's Harp Forum) was to make available the old Jew's Harp material hidden in archives around the country, mainly in the NRK (the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation). Norwegian Jew's Harp Forum  have now released the double CD: "Fille-Vern - Old and new masters in Norwegian Jew's Harp tradition". The first CD contain archive recordings from 1937 to the1970s. The second CD gives samples of  what has been performed at the NMF festivals and at "Landskappleiken", the main national competition for traditional music, song and dance.

The album contains 93 tunes and the total playing time is close to two and a half hours. Included is also a 104 page booklet with descriptions of traditions and musicians plus some notes and pictures (half the booklet is in English).

"Fille-Vern" (Raggedy Vern) was the nickname given to Vern Auversson (b. 1792) who traded in rags, an important ingredient for paper production in his time. A tune called "Fille-Vern", because it was Vern's favorite, has long been popular among jew's harp players in the Setesdal tradition. This double-CD is a collection of jew's harp music from areas of Norway well known for their traditions: Telemark, Hallingdal, Gudbrandsdalen and Valdres, as well as Setesdal, where Vern vandered with his rags. It provides an unique, in-depth experience of the jew's harp, an instrument known world-wide, but whose roots in Norway may go back more than 1000 years, to the days of the Vikings. Field recordings made during the years 1937-2006 provide us with a variety of traditional tunes performed by a variety of artists, the oldest born in 1865 and the youngest in 1977.

This album is a must for all those who are interested in Norwegian Jew's Harp traditions.

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You can listen to samples and buy the CDs here:

http://www.talik.musikkonline.no/shop/displayAlbum.asp?id=31974&cid=&sid=