The significance of the Hardanger Fiddle—a homespun Norwegian variation of the violin—is that while it is played on four strings, as a similar string instrument would be, it has four or five additional strings under the fingerboard which vibrate during playing. Though its use has been limited in modern music, Nils ?kland has not only mastered it, but has expanded its scope across non- traditional folk styles from rock, trance and classical to jazz. On Kj?lvatn he plays an assortment of stringed instruments but it is this fiddle that supplies the most unusual music.

?kland's career has not been skewed toward commercially acceptable projects but to varied artistic endeavors that bridge perceptions about instrumentation and genre. He has taken his fiddle, violin and viola to the more folk-oriented territory of Bris (Rune Grammofon, 2004) to the far edgier and sometimes psychedelic Lumen Drones (ECM, 2014). On Kj?lvatn ?kland retains the folkloric atmosphere of his native land—and a Celtic feel in general—while infusing a stronger jazz influence in his ten original compositions. Here, the effects of his work with the chamber ensemble of