“A head-spinning dialogue between half a millennium ago and now, and a sound as foreign as dreaming someone else’s dreams…“

– John Shand, SMH

Led by intrepid viola da gambist, Jenny Eriksson, Elysian Fields follows up their much-praised 2020 Scandinavian-inspired jazz-folk-fusion album, FIKA, with a genre-defying musical dialogue between past and contemporary musical realms. Swirling Flame is stimulated by, and draws its title from, the semi-improvisatory art works of leading Australian wood-fired ceramic artist, Barbara Campbell-Allen OAM, one of Eriksson’s closest friends.

Embracing the possibilities inherent in the electric version of her 7-string instrument, Elysian Fields weave sonic magic through a set of originals commissioned for the Swirling Flame project. Each composer, including Eriksson herself, was encouraged to lean into the tensions inherent in electrifying the viola da gamba, an instrument whose lineage in western classical music dates to the 1500s and beyond.

Shifting seamlessly between improvised and notated modalities, centuries of musical memory are embedded in the album’s diverse, yet strangely unified tracks. The textures and harmonies feel simultaneously ancient and modern.

Susie Bishop | voice/violin
Loretta Palmeiro | saxophones
Matt McMahon | piano
Jenny Eriksson | electric viola da gamba
Jaques Emery | double bass
Rease Cameron | drums

Austral Baroque

Austral Baroque features leading harpist, Lousie Johnson – for many years the principal harpist for the Sydney Symphony Orchestra – and viola da gambist, Jenny Eriksson, in genre-defying electric mode! Johnson and Eriksson have both been experimenting with effects and loop pedals for some years.

They recently came together to explore new repertoire, in the process creating a completely new sound world for their instruments. Music by Jenny Eriksson, Alice Chance, Louis Andriessen, arrangements by Lousie Johnson, and more!

Louise Johnson | Harp
Jenny Eriksson | electric viola da gamba