Although Stian Carstensen’s band Farmers Market started out as a free jazz ensemble, the band shifted slowly in the direction of folk music from the Balkans. The multi-instrumentalist (accordion, guitar, banjo, tambura) Carstensen started playing the accordion when he was eight, but, under the influence of heavy metal bands he switched to guitar. The accordion, however, remained his main instrument, although a CD title like Speed-Balkan-Boogie betrays his love for rock music. In Holland Carstensen is not an unknown musician: in the past he played with cellist Ernst Reijseger and trumpeter Eric Vloeimans. This year he will take on Artist in Residence Michael Brecker.
