Iberia. Oh, my God! | MI | 05/17/2023 | 17:30

May 17, 2023 at 5:30 p.m

On their fourth album, Kind of Folk, Trio Groupa – specializing in Northern European music – drifts far south, to the Iberian Peninsula and to some of its most important musical traditions. They have found experienced tour guides for this. For example, the multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Vanessa Muela, who specializes in music from Castile and Leon and plays various percussion instruments. Young singer, actress and puppeteer Sofia Andriana Portugal is responsible for traditional Portuguese music. The great Basque duo Ttukunak Txalaparta make up another important minor element in the musical fabric of Iberia.

Not only did Mats Eden (violin, viola d’amore, hardanger violin, accordion) found Groupa in 1980, he is also the artistic heart and the only one still holding the forte of the quintet at the time. The group began developing progressive Swedish folk music. Many famous and changing members make up Groupa’s musical memory.

Today Groupa is a trio consisting of two old Swedes, along with Edin Jonas Simonsson playing several flutes and clarinet, and Norwegian Terje Insungset on drums, percussion and jaw harp. “Kind of Folk. Vol. 4: Iberia” is a particularly diverse album filled with the poetry of the meeting of two very different cultures.