Arve Henriksen's follow-up to his first solo CD, Sakuteiki, Chiaroscuro sees him exploring the same ethereal pastures, this time accompanied by sampling artist Jan Bang and percussionist Audun Kleive. As a result, the album has of course a fuller, busier sound, although the increment is discreet. Slightly closer in style to the softer moments of Supersilent, the album remains nonetheless the recognizable successor of Sakuteiki. Henriksen's trumpet is the heart and soul of the music, uttering simple slow-paced themes and lonesome calls. The artist sings wordless melodies, his falsetto voice becoming an extension of the trumpet, instead of the other way around. Samples and percussion seem to proceed from within the horn's sound palette and expand it outward. The resulting music is imbued with a fragile kind of beauty that is deeply moving and surprisingly immediate, given that the listener is minimally open-minded. Points of comparison would include Miles Davis at his most spaced out, Bill Dixon, and trumpeter Natsuki Tamura's disarming solo CD Ko Ko Ko Ke. Highlights include the cinematic "Opening Image,""Blue Silk" (the longest and most developed piece), and "Time Lapse," a rare moment where the trio asserts its presence, backward samples and drumming equally sharing the stereo field with the trumpet. Henriksen's music is unique, its lack of pretension and its effortless aesthetic research leaving an unforgettable trace in the listener's mind. - François Couture / allmusic.com
“Few trumpeters over the last two decades have developed such an instantly recognizable personality.” – Down Beat
Arve Henriksen, born in 1968 and a graduate of the Trondheim Conservatory, began playing international stages in 1989. He made his debut on ECM in 1998 as part of Christian Wallumrød’s trio on the album NoBirch and has continued to record frequently for the label ever since. Besides his contributions to Wallumrød’s shape-shifting ensembles, Henriksen has appeared on albums by Trygve Seim, Arild Andersen, Jon Balke, Sinikka Langeland and Frode Haltli. His own leader-date for ECM, 2010’s Cartography saw the trumpeter partner up with electronic musician Jan bang, guitarist Eivind Aarset, drummer Audun Kleive and the Trio Mediaeval, among many others. Down Beat described it as “etherealambient music created with a painterly touch and marked by a fine melodic sensibility”.
Henriksen also collaborated with pianist Tigran Hamasyan on the 2016 recording Atmosphères, along with Jang Bang and Eivind Aarset. The Guardian said that “the pairing of Hamasyan and Henriksen brings an unexpectedly song-based seductiveness to the all-improv session”, concluding that “the sounds (…) announce the arrival of an elite collective with a distinctive identity and big potential”.
On Uma Elmo, released in 2022, Henriksen can be heard alongside Danish guitarist Jakob Bro and Spanish drummer Jorge Rossy, improvising in an intimate trio setting that gives each instrument much space to breathe. BBC Music Magazine had high praise for the album: “Danish guitarist Jakob Bro’s new recording is quintessential ECM: a small group of intensely talented individuals making rarefied music in the moment, captured by superb production values.”
The duo debut Touch of Time of Henriksen’s work with Dutch pianist Harmen Fraanje will be released in early 2024
Tracks
01. Opening Image
02. Bird's-Eye-View
03. Chiaro
04. Holography
05. Blue Silk
06. Parallel Action
07. Circled Take
08. Scuro
09. Time Lapse
10. Ending Image
ARVE HENRIKSEN trumpet, voice, electronics
AUDUN KLEIVE drums, percussion
JAN BANG livesampling, sample, electronics
ERIK HONORÉ electronics
All music composed by Are Henriksen, Audun Kleive and Jan Bang
Rune Grammofon – RCD 2037 (Norway)