NWT 110723
By: JONNA SÄLL
MUSIC Tomorrow, Sunday, the 16-man band BAO, Benny Anderssons Orkester, is playing on Sandgrundsudden in Karlstad.
– The nice thing about this team is that we have traveled together for ten years. And even if we haven´t traveled every year it almost feels a bit like a family reunion, says singer Helen Sjöholm.
A concert with dance is the concept of BAO’s summer tour. And they carry a full dance floor which is built up in every place they visit.
– Dance concept has been around from the beginning. The idea is that you should be able to dance to the music. The audience is lying, sitting, eating or dancing. Many are dancing, but many are also just listening, says Helen Sjöholm.
Helen broke through with a bang in the role of Kristina in Kristina from Duvemala in the mid-1990s. It is also thanks to that role she is now a member of BAO.
– Benny asked me because we had worked together in Kristina from Duvemala. You get into things for various reasons and this was an opportunity like that.
Now Helen is looking forward to the summer tour that visits eight locations around Sweden.
– It’s great fun. We come from slightly different directions and we usually don´t work together, except those from Orsa who are playing together. It’s not a long tour so it’s a little bit like a party and it´s very, very nice.
Almost like a vacation?
– Well, partly. It’s a lot of work, long nights and intense rehearsals before. But it’s like a real musical feast.
For Helen the band is something unique in Sweden:
– Live it’s a fantastic bunch of musicians that you never hear together otherwise. There are classical musicians who are members of the Philharmonics and folk musicians, along with jazz and pop musicians. It’s a band that is completely unlikely. It sounds good in every way and I think it is very rare today. And then there are so many on the stage, it’s not a dance band in the sense, but rather an orchestra.
What is it like for you to switch from, for example, musical venues to sing at a dance floor?
– I’m not so genre-linked. I have done musicals, traditional songs, and other materials that I have toured with, so I don´t think it’s weird. I sing quite a wide repertoire and enjoy it.
Do you have a favorite song from tomorrow’s gig?
– It’s usually songs that Í don´t sing myself. But when Tommy Körberg is singing “Jag hör…”, a song from the new album “O Klang och Jubeltid”, then I shudder.
FACTS / Helen Sjöholm
- Born in Sundsvall 1970
- Did the role of Kristina in the musical Kristina from Duvemala which was played between 1995 and 1999. Since then she has, among other things, appeared in Chess, Les Misérables, My Fair Lady and Aniara.
- Helen also hosted “Sommar” in Swedish Radio P1, she has been involved in several films, Rhapsody in Rock & Allsång på Skansen.
- Together with Benny Andersson Band (BAO), she was on the Swedish charts for a total of 278 weeks with the song Du är min man.