Jackie Leven and Rolf Jacobsen's «Solsikke» – Fairy Tales for Hard Men

Music column reviewing the new album from the Rolf Jacobsen angle: Jacobsen's “Solsikke” closes Fairy Tales for Hard Men in Robert Bly's almost literal translation “Sunflower”, recited over a discreet rhythm. Bly, son of Norwegian emigrants (family name after Bleie in Hardanger), once translated Olav H. Hauge and later Jacobsen. Alongside Jacobsen are James Wright (“Saint Judas” as a song) and W. B. Yeats; the real achievement is how Leven's own songs against the “violent man in us” join with the great names. The author praises courage, ambition and voice. At the end: Leven begins a solo tour the next day (03.04.) at Dixie in Oslo, with eight further stops until 12 April. Jan Saghaug (from Slåstad, Sør-Odal), who made Leven's internet pages, reports that Leven may come back in the autumn with Doll by Doll and regards Norway as his second home.