Jaggu Lekar consists of two fiddlers from Karlstad, Sweden. Per-Olof Moll and Per Hardestam have played together for over 20 years now and have released the cd Jaggu lekar.
Per-Olof Moll
Born in 1954. My father was born in Särna and that's where I first got introduced to folk music. The local fiddlers always participated in the midsummer celebrations and from what I recall, I thought the music sounded pretty cool.
In 1973 I decided to start playing the violin. I used my grandfather's old violin and tried real hard. The very same year I met Skår Arvid, who became my tutor. In 1974 I had gained courage enough to go and see the master fiddler Spak Erik. I visited him many more times, after that first meeting.
Skår Arvid and Spak Erik are my biggest sources of inspiration, when it comes to the tunes from Särna.
In 1980 I met Ingrid and Sigmund Risbakken from Engerdal, Norway. I then noticed the lively link between Särna, Idre and Engerdal. The three of us met regularly during the 80s and in the beginning of the 90s and played and exchanged tunes. In 1980 I also met Per Hardestam at the music café in Karlstad and since that we've been playing together.
Per Hardestam
I was born in 1954 and grew up in Sundbyberg, Stockholm. When I was 21 years old I started to play the violin. The tunes really spoke to me and I played as often as I could. The music that Kalle Almlöf and Anders Rosén played inspired me the most, but I also liked the tunes from the county of Värmland and the music from Norway. I had never heard of tunes from Särna. Well, actually I knew one, Steklåten, which I played.
Fiddling also got me interested in how a violin works. When I moved to Karlstad in 1979 I had rebuilt all my violins and added resonance strings. Nowadays, I mostly play normal violin.Per-Olof (Molle) Moll and I started to play together in the year of 1980 and ever since that we meet up and play, more or less regularly, in the untidy workshop in my garage.
