These two guys are great together, and the sound is superbly balanced between the two instruments… Dashing melodies that migrate between the instruments, then at other times trade off with a virtuosic counterpoint”

American Record Guide

Unge David Härenstam (född 1972) bryter den klassiska gitarristens ensamhet - Några av skivans mest tilltalande stycken är två av Franz Liszt, där dragspel och gitarr förenas i ett underskönt minimalistiskt arrangemang. Tango, samba, vals - den idéspäckade, icke-ortodoxa för att inte säga djärva mångfalden bär rakt igenom, samlad kring det fasta nav som Härenstam själv utgör med ett gitarrspel som är pregnant och varierat. Här ställs ungdomlig entusiasm mot erfarenheten hos lite äldre samtida kompositörer, och de olika generationerna gör sitt till mångfalden. Ett samarbete med dynamik!
Svenska Dagbladet

”Vi får ett oklanderligt, fint utmejslat spel”

Göteborgs Posten

Lysande tango toner av mästare... De båda mästarna glänste individuelt och bjöd på ett mästerligt samspel. Ska man kalla några virtuoser, så är det de här båda... en enorm musikupplevelse.
Mora tidning

Nils-erik Sparf och David Härenstam bjöd på finlir... kvällens starkaste behållning. Här fanns det virtuosa och sorglösa men också depression; dansant uppvisning men också tvära synkoper i hektisk och dissonant miljö. En ljuv drömlik avslutning blev Paganinis "Cantabile" som extranummer.
Södermanlands tidning

... very tonal, original too, and wonderful music... this set is very good indeed, the music is never less then interesting. brilliantly inventive... do buy it!"
Classical Guitar

*Two eminent Swedish musicians working togheter.
*Having heard him on many occasions in a wide range of music, I knew his capacity but rarely have I heard him play with such glow…The rapport between Sparf and Härenstam is also that of two twin-souls’. This is now my preferred version of Histoire du Tango.
*For the sonata Sparf, who is the leader of the Drottningholm Baroque Ensemble, changes to baroque violin. This is an instrument he handles to perfection. He has a fuller, rounder tone than many period instrument players …full-blooded performance, characterised by speedy fast movements and tasteful embellishments.
*Sparf combines the fiery temperament of an Italian with his own Nordic coolness – an ideal partnership. Technically he is up to all the requirements with excellent double stops and creamy tone.
*The disc goes a long way to prove that really good musicians are not hampered by boundaries between, tonal and atonal, new and old, high and low. The only boundaries are between good and bad. This disc is good. It will have a honoured place in my collection.
Classical Cd Musicalweb International Göran Forsling

Var kommer de alla ifrån? Alla de unga fantastiskt begåvade svenska musikerna? Strängaspel med temperament… eldig fandango…
gnistrande tango. Toppen
Södermanlands nyheter

Spännande blandning… Professionell duo som är ett exempel på kvallitet… Precis vad jag behövde efter en lång arbetsdag!
Provinstidningen Dalsland

"(---) extreme jumps between heartbreakingly beautiful melodies, wonderfully played, and awkward, rhythmical ostinato, deliciously performed. It's alive, breathing, technically perfect.
Gitarr & Luta

Det är mycket svårspelad musik. Den spelades med utmärkt teknik, fina nyanser, virtuost spel över hela greppbrädan ända till ljudhålet och klappande rytmer på locket.
Säffletidningen

En fantastisk fingerfärdighet där tonerna dansar fram tillsynes lekfullt enkelt…
Förtroendet mellan kvintetten och solisten (David) är ett grundligt bygge. Alla är yrkesartister ut i den finaste fingertoppshuden. Samspelet blir felfritt.
Värmlands folkblad

Musikerduo på bästa spelhumör. I toppform... något av det bästa som hörts i Dalarna. Nils.Erik Sparf och David Härenstam var virtuosa men poserade inte. Sparf var igår kväll på sådant spelhumör att till och med gitarristen David härenstam satt och flinade... Härenstams spel liksom glöder i Mora kyrkans halvdunkel... Publiken ger sig inte med mindre en två extranummer. Båda delikat framförada. Sveriges Radio spelade in konserten. Hör den senare!
Falukuriren (efter duons framträdande på Musik vid Siljan)

Natten fick glöd på museet. Det var en spännande och talande musik som gjorde den redan entusiastiska publiken närmast vild.
Arvika tidningen

En man och hans gitarr. Skickligheten finns där. Tekniken är perfekt. Fingrarna löper helt obesvärat över gitarrens hals. Inte en skugga av tekniskt hinder. Ett mästerskap, alltså. Allt stämmer… vad jämför jag med? Segovia. Williams. Det är jämförbara storheter, när det gäller framförandet. Det är på den nivån Härenstam är: Han kan allt.
Norrteljetidning

Lika skickligt som vackert spelat. Uppsalas konsertmästare Nils – Erik Sparf lyfter titelspåret skrivet av Eberhard Eyser, Gunnel Fred läser Lennart Sjögren dikt Ingenting till musik av Håkan Johansson. Ett upplyftande album med precis lagom mängd tango dessutom.
Upsala Nya Tidning

Det är ett förstlingsverk som andas självförtroende och ger mersmak. (Härenstam) spelar känsligt och med en rik färgskala… en närvara som knappast någonsin flyr.
Nwt

Stor inlevelse, fingerfärdighet och spelglädje… Duon gav stort utrymme för improvisation och publiken imponerades av deras skicklighet
Högklassig musik där spelglädjen sattes främst.
Dalslänningen

Vårkännslor väcktes till liv av Sparf och Härenstam... lysande var för sig och berikande för varandra.
Kristianstadsbladet

Vakkert, virtuost og engasjert!
Bergen Tidene, Norge

Virtuosafton på "Armén"... Två virtuoser musiker i den absoluta mästarklassen lekte sig till synes fram genom en konsert fylld av idel utmaningar. David Härenstams gitarrspel var slaggfritt, härligt och otvunget. Som hos många riktigt bra musiker tyckte inte genrernas krav på bestämda stilistiska grepp resa svårigheter. Härenstam är en representant för det unga garde av instumentala virtuoser som förtjänar epitetet världsartist genom sin förmåga att levande gestalta musik från olika tider och kulturer... hisnande passager genomfördes med allt det dödsförakt som nuets tango kräver av sina aktörer.
Nya Wermlands tidningen & Arvika nyheter (publicerat i bägge)

"Some CDs just gives you that euphoria to lend your ears to. He is a master in guitar playing. The Bard is a ´must have´ for all lovers of acoustic guitar music, ya´ bet ya´!!!"
Lira

Han är utan tvekan en av de mest spännande svenska musikerna just nu och hade inte hans repertoar varit så spretig(...) så skulle han redan vara en stor internationell stjärna. David Härenstams andra skiva ligger och snurrar i cd-spelaren och jag klickar säkerhetsbältet, för man vet aldrig vad som skall hända när den mannen spelar! Här finns en rad mycket omväxlande låtar som spänner från Davids utgångspunkt, den klassiska gitarren, över finstämda singer/songwriter-alster med Sophie Moleta sjungande, via en tangoskvätt till friformjazz and beyond
Lira

Mångsidig blandning...Sillhouette spelas känsligt... Embreceable you sjungs rättframt av Collins men bakom henne jäser det i bandet och snart bryter en fri improvisation ut. (Moleta och Härenstam framför) känsligt framförda duonummer.
Orkester Journalen

Uppnosig blandning av musikstilar!
Vem bryr sig längre om genrer? Inte gitarristen David Härenstam i alla fall, som med ung uppnosighet blandar jazz, klassiskt, folk- och världsmusik. Och får det att svänga oerhört.
Stockholm City

Gitarristen David Härenstam är befriande oförutsägbar.Piazzolla, Gullin, Mulligan, Gershwin, Dylan, Härenstam – repertoaren kan synas paradoxal men är helgjuten i sin groove. Ja, här blåser gränslöshetens friska vind i alla avseenden... både vildvuxet och sofistikerat experimentell musikgrupp. Lyriska och känsligt framförda stycken är Piazzollas ”Oblivion” , ”La cumparsita” och Dylans ”Buckets of rain” .
Svd

Alldeles briljant spelat och sjunget... Davids akustiska gitarrspel har en genomskinlig briljans, lyssna bara på hur han mutar in den ofta spelade La Cumparsita som sin egen, eller Lars Gullins Silhouette, som är andlöst vacker med gitarr, dragspel och bas, eller den raffinerade versionen av Bob Dylans Bucket of rain. David Härenstam är i alla händelser en alldeles lysande gitarrist, oavsett uttrycksform.
VF

 ...gediget gitarrspel, ibland infallsrikt, rent av snillrikt
Södermanlands Nyheter

Professionellt och gediget

Mora Tidning

Instead of fitting neatly into one musical genre, the David Harenstam Band’s “What happened in Fremantle?” fits into none… effective, mix of folk, jazz, classical and other styles. Harenstam is a talented guitarist from Sweden who performs regularly as a classical musician. He plays clean, piercing notes on his acoustic guitar and easily moves from style to style… it is the crisp sounds that he nutures from the acoustic instrument. She (Moleta) has a low-key, moody style. Her closest musical kin is perhaps Margo Timmins of the Cowboy Junkies. Both have beautiful voices and slow, haunting deliveries. “What happened in Fremantle?” also includes several instrumental numbers, which have classical and Latin influences. Each song features a different ensemble of musicians. The song “Oblivion,” for example, has guitar, violin and accordion. Other songs have saxophone or drums. The disc officially closes with Harenstam and Moleta performing Bob Dylan’s “Buckets of Rain.” It’s a sparse, beautiful treatment. Moleta’s tender vocals are a perfect fit for the bittersweet lyrics. Although “Buckets of Rain” is the last song listed on the CD, there is a surprise that follows. This is an album full of surprises, mostly good ones.

Jazz Review

"Håkan Johansson ´Ingenting´ is a six-minute solo guitar work with some toecurlingly-sexy Danish recitation by the gorgeous Gunnel Fred. I haven't a clue what she was saying but I enjoyed it nevertheless! 'Suite for David´ is a very tonal, original too, and wonderful music, ... this set is very good indeed, the music is never less then interesting... brilliantly inventive... do buy it!"
Classical Guitar

"I never heard such a perfect pitched play on acoustic guitar in neither classical nor other musical environment... Here you find tango played with passion, force and humour, and a totally wonderfully beautiful ´Suite for David´, especially written to the artist... Everything becomes so real that you imagine both of them, Sparf and Härenstam, sitting in your listener's room. How many classical guitar players are capable, want to and dare offer their public a repertory filled with so many smiles?"
Värmlands Folkblad

"A man and his guitar. The skill is there. The technique is perfect. The fingers run totally untroubled along the neck of the guitar. Not a shadow of technical obstacles. A mastership, that is. Everything is right. (---) With what do I compare? Segovia. Williams. They are comparable notabilities when it comes to performance. This is the level of Härenstam´s: He knows it all!"
Norrtelje tidning

"This is a CD with very strong profile and atmosphere with six world premieres!"
Kammarmusik-Nytt

"More Swedish and a little Uppsala on one hand. The guitarist David Härenstam offers us not less than six world premiers on the album The Bard. (---) Equally skilful as beautifully played (---) Uplifting CD, with the exact right proportion tango as well!"
UNT

"This is a colourful debut breathing self-confidence and whets your appetite. (---) Härenstam plays with a sensitive colour gamut (---) a presence that rarely disappears."
Nya Wermlands tidningen

"The young David Härenstam breaks the solitude of the classical guitar player collaborating with combinations of musicians (---) Some of the most pleasant pieces of the CD are two by Franz Liszt, where accordion and guitar are united in a wondrous minimalistic arrangement. Tango, samba, waltz - fulfilled with ideas of the un-orthodox kind, not to say brave, is carrying the production together with the strong centre of the guitar playing of Härenstam - pregnant and varied!"
SvD

"Some CDs just gives you that euphoria to lend your ears to. He is a master in guitar playing. The Bard is a ´must have´ for all lovers of acoustic guitar music, ya´ bet ya´!!!"
Lira

"(---) extreme jumps between heartbreakingly beautiful melodies, wonderfully played, and awkward, rhythmical ostinato, deliciously performed. It's alive, breathing, technically perfect.
Gitarr & Luta

The audience was amazed by the duos improvisational skills. Music of the highest class there the joy of playing was put in the first room.
Dalslänningen

"This is a colorful debut breathing self-confidence and whets your appetite. (---) Härenstam plays with a sensitive color gamut (---) a presence that rarely disappears."
Nya Wermlands tidningen

"Amazing technique. The trust between the quintet and the soloist (Härenstam) was built from the ground and up. They are all professional musicians from the heart till the top of there fingers. There is never a single mistake."
VF

Instead of fitting neatly into one musical genre, the David Harenstam Band’s “What happened in Fremantle?” fits into none… effective, mix of folk, jazz, classical and other styles. Harenstam is a talented guitarist from Sweden who performs regularly as a classical musician. He plays clean, piercing notes on his acoustic guitar and easily moves from style to style… it is the crisp sounds that he nutures from the acoustic instrument. She (Moleta) has a low-key, moody style. Her closest musical kin is perhaps Margo Timmins of the Cowboy Junkies. Both have beautiful voices and slow, haunting deliveries. “What happened in Fremantle?” also includes several instrumental numbers, which have classical and Latin influences. Each song features a different ensemble of musicians. The song “Oblivion,” for example, has guitar, violin and accordion. Other songs have saxophone or drums. The disc officially closes with Harenstam and Moleta performing Bob Dylan’s “Buckets of Rain.” It’s a sparse, beautiful treatment. Moleta’s tender vocals are a perfect fit for the bittersweet lyrics. Although “Buckets of Rain” is the last song listed on the CD, there is a surprise that follows. This is an album full of surprises, mostly good ones.

Jazz review

"Cheeky mix of musical styles! Who cares about genres anymore? Not the guitarist David Härenstam, who with youthful cheek blends jazz, classical, folk, and world music. And gets it to swing enormesly."

Stockholm City

Without a shadow of a doubt, David Härenstam is one of the most intressting musicians in Sweden right now and had his repertoire been focused on one style instead of many he had allready been a big internationell star... David Härenstam second CD is starting up in my CD player and I fasten my seatbelts couse you never now what is going to happen when that man is playing! On this record you find a numer of varied songs that from David Härenstams startingpoint, the classiscal guitar, stretches over beatiful singer/songwriter songs with Sophie Moleta, some tango, freeform jazz and beyond.
Folkmusic Magazine LIRA

A great mixture of everything. Silhhouette is played so sensitive... Embreceable you is sunged very straight forward by Collins but underneth the band is boiling with improvisations and soon the music brakes free with impros lead by Jonny Wartel and Collins... Moleta and Härenstam performnce just so sensitive in there duos..
OrkesterJournalen, Nordic Jazz Magazine

"(---) ...so delightful. We are sitting there, in the shadow under the trees, listening to David playing the guitar, Sophie Moleta sings and the accordeon playing from Håkan Johansson makes us believe we are in Argentine. As a whole it is totally brilliantly played and sung... David´s acoustical guitar playing has a transparent shine, just listen how he makes his very own the very often played La Cumparsita, or the Silhouette by Lars Gullin, a breathtaking beauty with guitar, accordeon and bass, or the very fine, reffined version of Bob Dylan´s Bucket of rain... David Härenstam is a totally shining guitarist, totally regardless the ways of expression."
Värmlands Folkblad

“The guitarist David Härenstam is refreshingly unpredictable. He is classically trained, and a couple of years ago he released the chamber music CD "The bard" with among others the violinists Nils-Erik Sparf and Anders Inge, containing newly written music by for example Mauro Godoy, Eberhard Eyser, and Christer Karlberg. And now, he releases a jazz CD that contains more than just jazz. Piazzolla, Gullin, Mulligan, Gershwin, Dylan, Härenstam-the repertoire can appear paradoxical, but the groove is consistent. Here, the fresh wind of boundlessness blows in every way, with recordings from studios in Perth, Wellington, London, Stockholm, and the Western Swedish town of Kil. "Featuring Sophie Moleta & Tinnitus Therapy Trip," the subtitle of the CD, presents Härenstam's sextet: a jazz singer along with a both wild and sophisticated experimental music group. Some of the most lyrical and sensitive tracks are Piazzolla's "Oblivion" (guitar, violin, accordion),"La cumparsita" (guitar), and Dylan's "Buckets of rain" (Sophie Moleta, song/ whistling and Härenstam, guitar). "
Swedish Daily News (SvD)

Heavily steeped in folk of different kinds, I can identify Irish at least, but also with a bit of traditional vocal jazz and some classical instrumentation the David Harenstam Band cover a lot of ground. However, they do stay within a certain slow, vocal jazz-type, meditative pace but they always throw a little curve ball to keep things interesting... very well done. See if that sounds good to you.
It´s a trap!