Mari Boine

The ancient shamanistic musical traditions of the Sami of northern Scandinavia are given a modern twist by vocalist and drummer Mari Boine (Persen). Although her highly rhythmic songs are rooted in the wordless, yodeling-like vocal style of yoik (or joik), Boine's arrangements incorporate influences of jazz, rock, and other ethnic elements. After debuting in the 1980s, she had a breakthrough with 1989's Gula Gula and secured her arrival on the broader music scene with the Spellemann Prize-winning Goaskinviellja in 1993. Releases like the concert album Eallin (1996), Eight Seasons (2002), and In the Hand of the Night (2006) highlighted output leading up to career recognitions such as the Arts Council Norway's Honorary Award in 2009 and the Spellemann equivalent in 2017, the same year she released her first all-English-language album, See the Woman. A stripped-down set with pianist Bugge Wesseltoft, Amame, was released in 2023.

Boine, part Sami, was exposed to the spiritual-like psalm singing of the Christian "Laestadian" movement as a child. As a result of the resistance to her Sami background that she experienced as a youngster, Boine developed a lyrical approach that expressed her feelings about discrimination. Her debut album, Jaskatvouda Manna, arrived on the independent Norwegian label Iduit, though her commercial breakthrough came with 1989's Gula Gula, issued on Peter Gabriel's Real World label. Her 1993 album, Goaskinviellja (Eagle Brother), won a Spellemann Award in the catchall Open Class category.

Commissioned to compose and perform new music for the Vassajazz Music Festival in 1994, Boine used the opportunity as the foundation for her album Leahkastin (Unfolding), which was released the following year. In the meantime, Boine's vocals could also be heard on saxophonist Jan Garbarek's albums Twelve Moons (1992) and Visible World (1995). Asked to perform at the 1996 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, Boine refused to be treated as a "token ethnic ornament" and turned down the invitation. That year, Eagle Brother and Unfolding were combined and released as Radiant Warmth, and Boine issued a well-received live album called Eallin. The studio album Bálvvoslatjna: Room of Worship followed in 1998.

Boine returned in 2001 with a collaboration with Inna Zhelannaya and Sergey Starostin titled Winter in Moscow, as well as Remixed, a NorthSide Records release that included reworkings of her material from notables like Bill Laswell and Jah Wobble. A year later, Boine's Eight Seasons also arrived on NorthSide. She closed out the decade with 2006's In the Hand of the Night and 2009's Cuovgga Áirras/Sterna Paradisea, both on Universal imprint Lean. She also won the Arts Council Norway's Honorary Award in 2009.

Her first release in the next decade, 2013's Gilvve Gollát: Sow Your Gold, was nominated for a Spellemann for Traditional Music/Norwegian Folk. She followed that with her first all-English LP, See the Woman, issued by MPS Records in 2017. That year, she also won the Spellemann jury honorary award. Arriving in 2023, her next album, Amame, was a collaborative one with minimalist accompaniment by Norwegian jazz pianist Bugge Wesseltoft. ~ Craig Harris & Marcy Donelson, Rovi