I Byen Samarkand

Odd Nordstoga is an award winning Norwegian artist who has been active since the 1990's, working in the popular-/folk music genre. I have listened to a lot of Odd Nordstogas music, in particular the «Heim te mor»-album. When preparing for Askøy Brass Band's participation at Siddis Brass in 2008, I came across «I byen Samarkand», another of Nordstogas tunes. This was from the «Pilegrim» album. I thought it had an exciting mix of expressions and included it in the band's repertoire for the Siddis Brass competiton. «Pilegrim» was initially a commision by the Bergen International Festival back in 2005, based on lyrics by author Ragnar Hovland and Odd Nordstoga's music. -Svein H. Giske -