Norræna Húsið

Chapter 15 of Search For a Dancer, a serial memoir about a week I spent in Iceland in 2022. Mondays on Flippism is the Key

After the JFDR boutique gig ended I went around the block to a basement space beneath the Smekkleysa record shop where the Apparat Organ Quartet was setting up. They were a trio now, the late Johann Johannsson was unable to make it, obviously. I had seen them in 2006, in the big Art Museum space, that show was a completely demented aural and visual assault. It was my introduction to Johann, a massive talent that I was fortunate to see perform five times. The remaining members were all older now, of course, I believe one member may be close to 80! The small room (that had been nearly empty when I had seen Hekla there the day before) was stuffed with cheesy and antique electronic keyboards and organs. They joked that they were an “Apparat cover band—better than the original!” I know how temperamental those old electronic gizmos can be but they got them all working, as far as I could tell. The music was as nutty and unpredictable as ever. I stayed as long as I dared to—the place was hot and over-filled and, as I had already seen someone collapse at an Airwaves event, I didn’t want to be one to repeat the experience.

I braved the dark walk through Hlómskálagarður park, dashing across the busy Hringbraut highway, and walked down Sæmundargata, the street leading up to my destination: Norræna Húsið. The Nordic House was designed by acclaimed Finnish modernist architect Alvar Aalto (1898-1976) and is one of his later works, a hidden gem among his better-known masterpieces. He also designed all installed furnishings, lamps and nearly all of the furniture. It is a multi-use building, including a restaurant, library, workshops and, most importantly for tonight, a performance space. I tingled in anticipation as I walked up the path to the building’s entrance.

I have spent many hours here, starting in 2009, when I saw Hraun (a folksy band), Hafdis Huld (a singer-songwriter), Oh Land (a ballerina/singer), Casio Kids (a marvelous band playing cheesy keyboards), Toggí (a salty raconteur), Agent Fresco (an emo art-rock band), and Pascal Pinon: a quartet of girls who changed my life. In 2018 I saw Petúr Ben (troubadour), Nini Julia Bang (a musical witch), Liva Mo (a singer/raconteur), and Bláskjár (singer-songwriter). Because this ‘house’ is about a mile from the center of town, it always seems to be a bit of an adventure to make the trek through the area that was featured so memorably in the Halldór Laxness book The Fish Can Sing. This year, coming off 2 seasons of Covid cancellations, everything had been scaled back: there were no decorations and the only act was Dawda Jobarteh and his Kora, a traditional Gambian harp.

One may wonder how a Gambian folk-musician made his way to the Nordic House in Iceland, but I found it to be a welcome change. Dawda lives in Copenhagen and his musical career is an example of how the world is changing. With most major European cities supporting a mix of cultures, sometimes uneasily, this diversity renews artistic traditions. He moved from Gambia in 1999 and settled in Denmark. Dawda is solidly rooted in one of West Africa's most illustrious musical dynasties but it is as an international musician that he has found his place, and key to this is his willingness and enthusiasm for working with musicians from different backgrounds and traditions.

Dawda’s set was brilliant.

The Kora is a type of harp, with strings attached to a fret board. It is set up so that it could be played in counterpoint, the strings for the left hand playing bass and the right hand the melodies. There was a ton of culture being expressed in Dawda’s songs, ineffable spirit-messages from the past. The twenty people in the audience were mesmerized. It was unfortunate that he was the only performer, rather that the 3 or 4 they used to feature in pre-Covid times. It also seemed as if the show was thrown together at the last minute, with only a day notice in the festival schedule and its being held after dark, unlike the leisurely all-afternoon affairs I had attended at earlier Airwaves. I stayed through his solo set but then reluctantly left (when he was joined by a singer) because the evening’s Airwaves events at the major venues were starting.

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