Quad City Arts Visiting Artists Jaerv -- January 25 and 26.
Thursday, January 25, 7 p.m.
Augustana College's Gerber Center, 3435 Ninth-and-a-Half Avenue, Rock Island IL
Friday, January 26, 3 p.m.
Butterworth Center, 1105 Eighth Street, Moline IL
Offering a thrilling collaboration between artists of different continents who share in dazzling musical sensibilities, Quad City Arts presents, in the first Visiting Artists performances of 2024, a shared bill between the Swedish quintet Jaerv and the Minnesota duo The OK Factor, this remarkable septet of collected talents playing Augustana College's Gerber Center in Rock Island on January 25 and Moline's Butterworth Center on January 26.
In 2017, the bands’ musical worlds collided after The OK Factor opened for Jaerv at the Cedar Cultural Center in Minneapolis. There was an immediate connection between them, grounded in a mutual love and respect for one another's talent, rhythmic intricacies, inspiring melodic ornamentation, fascinating instrumentation, and, yes, musical traditions. After shared performances and the study of traditional Swedish and American music throughout their tour of Sweden, a natural and organic partnership has developed between The OK Factor and Jaerv that is felt, seen, and heard by their audiences, both in Sweden and in the United States.
Boasting Joel Hagen (flute, whistles, soprano saxophone), Anders Bergstein (double bass, nyckelharpa), Harald Nilsson (guitars), Markus Gustavsson (fiddle), and Tobias Hedlund (percussion, pump organ), the award-winning Swedish quintet Jaerv present an extroverted, vigorous and heartfelt folk music with influences from both jazz and pop music. Together, the five members have created a homogeneous, vivid sound which has established Jaerv on the folk music scene as well as in many other forums. Rooted in several different musical traditions, Jaerv offers a varied stage performance where vocal, five-voiced tunes blend in with energetic dances and free improvisations.
Jaerv is an internationally well known act and has toured the U.S., Japan, Spain, Scotland, Ireland, Finland and Norway among other countries. They have received various rewards and recognitions from a vast number of cultural foundations such as the Royal Academy of Music, the Swedish Arts Council, and the American-Swedish Foundation. Their discography includes three full-length albums and a number of singles and collaborations, featuring eg. the Japanese Koto-master Hiroe Morikawa, the award-winning choir Vocal Art Ensemble, the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, and their current collaborators The OK Factor. According to Billboard magazine, "The combined talent, humor and professionalism these impressive men exude is unparalleled."
Organic and genuine, the original compositions by The OK Factor's cellist Olivia Diercks and violinist Karla Colahan feel both comfortingly familiar and uniquely fresh, and have been described as "genre-bending" (Julie Amacher, MPR) and "pure magic" (Wausau Pilot & Review). The ease with which they write and perform has caught the attention of the Minnesota music community in which they live and work, bringing them success on stages such as The Cedar Cultural Center and as frequent featured artists with Minnesota Public Radio. Their distinct compositional and performance style awarded them the honor of being finalists for the prestigious McKnight Fellowships for Musicians in 2018.
Within their six years of writing, performing, and regional touring, The OK Factor has been in residence with Minnesota Public Radio's Class Notes Artists program, the Grand Theater in Wausau, the College of Saint Benedict, and Luther College, sharing their intimate performances, outreach activities, and educational workshops with these communities. Their passion for education has taken them across the United States to conduct workshops with students, and has led to ATLAS, their new education initiative. ATLAS is aimed at exciting and encouraging students of all ages to explore what music means to them as community members and as individuals, to find their unique musical voice, and how they can use that voice to foster meaningful, life-changing opportunities. Home to student study guides, teacher lesson plans, transcriptions of original OK Factor tunes, student leadership opportunities, and other resources, ATLAS provides a roadmap for a musical adventure, in hopes that musicians will then create their own adventure using no map at all.
Jaerv + The OK Factor will perform two engagements open to the public during their Quad City Arts Visiting Artists residency: in the Gavle Room of Augustana College's Gerber Center on January 25 at 7 p.m., and at Moline's Butterworth Center on January 26 at 3 p.m. Both concert events are free, and more information is available by calling (309)793-1213 and visiting QuadCityArts.com.
