Mats Hellberg, leading preserver of Swedish folk music

Mats Hellberg died unexpectedly on September 17th 2006. He was a
drummer and record producer who found himself cast as one of the great
apostles of traditional music in Sweden.

Since the 1980s, he was the driving force behind Giga Records, founded
in 1976 by musicians Per Gudmundson and Magnus Backström. In the
following 30 years the label has provided the world with a look at
some of the greatest musicians of Sweden, from the old teachers to
some of the rising stars, creating over 80 LPs and CDs that have
provided the whole world with a glimpse into the wide ranging beauty
of Swedish folk music.

Here are just a few of the artists that Giga exposed to the world:
Pelle Bjornlert
Ulf Storling
Pakkos Gustaf
Simon Simonson
Ale Möller
Kjell-Erik Eriksson
Lennart Gybrant
Jonny Soling
Mats Berglund
Anders Norudde
Ole Hjorth
Björn Ståbi
Erik Pekkari
Ellika Frisell
Bengt Lofberg
Kalle Almlof
Susanne Rosenberg
Johan Hedin
Per Gudmundson
Magnus Backstrom

There is currently no word on what the future of Giga records will be.

I assume there will eventually be more news on the Giga web site
http://www.giga.w.se/


cliff