THE EARLY FOLK BAND

This spicy festival of salacity is made possible by the special program >> NEUSTART KULTUR <<  of the federal government of Germany.

Old Spices - Alte Gewürze

An erotic journey through time with spicy songs from the Middle Ages, Renaissance and Baroque

Gesine Bänfer (DE) - whistle, bagpipes, old English guitar, vocals
Miriam Andersèn (SE) - vocals, harp, flute
Katherine Christie Evans (GB) - vocals, gittern
Per Buhre (SE) - baroque viola, vocals
Steven Player (GB) - comedian, dancer, baroque guitar, vocals
Michael Metzler (DE) - percussion, vocals

Many thanks for the financial support from the Federal Government's Minister of State for Culture!
www.kulturstaatsministerin.de

Photos: Julia Ortmann (Freiburg)

>>aktuelle Pressekritik "Old Spices"<<

Gesine Bänfer (DE) is a woodwind player and, in addition to shawm, whistles, various bagpipes and old English guitar, also plays soprano saxophone in other projects. In the 35 years of her professional activity as a musician, she initiated and supervised many projects and played at a high level with musicians from all over the world - "with irrepressible joy of playing and a real desire to experiment with the musical material". She founded her first girl band Jawbone at the age of 13, sang for many years as a singer in a rock opera and played the saxophone in dance combos and big bands before specializing in historical woodwind instruments. With her shawm she is a prizewinner at the renowned early music competition Festival van Vlandern, Bruges and winner of the Belgian BRTN radio prize. For her bagpipe playing, she was honoured by the Festival Rencontre Internationales de St. Chartier (France) and received two prizes from the Deutsche Popstiftung as "Best Wind Player" and for the "Best Folkrock Band". As a music producer, she runs the independent CD label >>ahalani-records<< | >>gesine-baenfer.de<<

Miriam Andersén (SE)

 studied singing, medieval harp, medieval notation and performance practice at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis (CH). An expert on traditional Swedish music and its medieval roots, her repertoire spans a wide spectrum of genres, from Gregorian chant to contemporary music. She tours the world and makes CD recordings with medieval music ensembles such as Theater of Voices, Sarband, Esk, Ferrara Ensemble, Ensemble Gilles Binchois, Alba and Belladonna and has participated in stage productions in Sweden (GöteborgsOperan, Mellby Scenkonst, Teater Nostra) , Germany (Maxim Gorki Theater/Hebbel Theater), Switzerland (Theater Basel), Austria and Belgium (Toneelhuis, Eastman). She received the Anders Zorn Silver Badge for her cow horn playing, as well as the title riksspelman, which she shares with some of Sweden's finest performers of traditional music. >>miriamandersen.com<<

Katherine Christie Evans (GB) comes from a long line of musicians. She has a passion for early music and heavy rock and plays medieval guiatr (gittern), electric guitar, bass and drums. As a bassist, she has toured the UK and Europe with various punk and rock bands. As a session singer and instrumentalist, she can be heard on many recordings ranging from folk metal to soul to synthwave. She writes her own music, which she describes as a mix of heavy rock and other random influences, including classic rock of the '60s and '70s. In 2021 she released her first solo EP Hert so Hy (available on Spotify, Apple Music and on Bandcamp) a collection of medieval love songs from Europe that she researched and arranged. Katherine lives in Birmingham, where she is studying for a Masters in Audio Engineering at the Conservatory. >>katherinechristieevans.co.uk<<

Steven Player (UK) est à la fois comédien, danseur et musicien. Inspiré par les manuscrits originaux, il redonne vie aux danses historiques de la Renaissance et du Baroque, toujours avec un clin d'œil et une blague autour du cou. En tant que guitariste baroque, il a travaillé en concert et en enregistrement avec les meilleurs musiciens et ensembles de musique ancienne, notamment aux États-Unis avec Apollo's Fire et La Nef et en Europe avec les groupes Los Otros, The Harp Consort et The Alehouse Boys. Avec la Society of Strange and Ancient Instruments, il a créé une nouvelle interprétation des danses Morris avec le programme Nine Daies Wonder. Il a chorégraphié et enseigné pour la télévision, le théâtre et l'opéra, de la côte nord de la Norvège à la pointe sud de l'Australie.

Per Buhre (SE) based on the island Orust in Sweden, is working in Europe as a singer, violinist and viola-layer. He also frequently do stage directing, mainly in the early opera field. He is usually working with the Norwegian group Barokksolistene and his own Ensemble Odd Size, but is also one of the original members of Göteborg Baroque and the principal violinist in the danish group Ensemble Zimmermann. He also extend his musicianship working with video and photography in the music field. One of his main passions is growing a big orchard with cider fruit.
>>Per Buhre on facebook<<

Michael Metzler specialized in historical percussion, studied at the Leipzig Music Academy, with Hermann Naehring, Berlin, Ahmed Subhy in Cairo and Glen Velez in New York. More meaningful than the list of his teachers is that of his students, among whom are such outstanding drummers as Andrea Piccioni and David Kuckhermann. He has been involved in over 120 CD productions and travels the world for concerts, radio, theater and film music with, among others, Joachim Schlömer, Theater Basel, Hebbel-Theater Berlin, Semperoper Dresden, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, Freiburger Barockorchester, Cecilia Bartoli , the Bach Consort Wien, the Hilliard Ensemble... Since 2001 he has also been working as a bell founder for historical bells and glockenspiels and runs a small, fine shop for bells, percussion and ethnic instruments.  >>www.glockenladen<<

The Early Folk Band has recorded a number of CDs with Deutschlandfunk Kultur and Südwestfunk. They are available from the Freiburg independent label >>ahalani-records<<

Information for Organizers:

This concert program is just as suitable for closed rooms as it is for corona-friendly open-air concerts. As a rainproof variant, we can provide a 6x4m tent as a stage backdrop and rain protection for the musicians. This has proven itself last year at our 30 Robin Hood concerts in the Black Forest, which the foundation "Art despite distance" of the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Culture made possible. We provide umbrellas for the audience so that safety distances can be maintained.

The Early Folk Band is a project of Les haulz et les bas GbR based in Freiburg, Germany. The aim of the GbR is topic-based research, reconstruction and interpretation of historically informed music from the 13th century onwards. In addition, the GbR has set itself the task of making early music accessible to a wide audience. The GbR projects are organized by our music office: www.office-of-musicians-affairs.com

Contact Les haulz et les bas GbR
Managing Director Gesine Bänfer
Harriet-Straub-Str. 39
79100 Freiburg, Germany
fon ++49 - (0) 761- 29 23 110
mobile ++49 - (0) 172 - 76 46 178
office@gesine-baenfer.de

Tax number: 06487 / 45254
Tax Office Freiburg-Stadt

For a photo of the ensemble please conctact Gesine Bänfer
Tel: ++49 172 - 76 46 178
Email: gesine-baenfer@posteo.de