Håkon Kornstad at Spoleto Festival

Saxophonist and opera singer Håkon Kornstad doing "O del mio dolce ardor" (Gluck) at Spoleto Festival (USA June 2014).

More videos on his YouTube site.

Håkon Kornstad Tenor Battle at Nattjazz 2014

Here is a video of Håkon Kornstad Tenor Battle at the Nattjazz festival in Bergen in May 2014.

See also a video from a church concert at Nattjazz 2012 right here.

Musicians:
Håkon Kornstad (sax, voc)
Per Zanussi (b)
Øyvind Skarbø (dr)
Sigbjørn Apeland (org)

Håkon Kornstad: Snutt

Sax player and opera singer Håkon Kornstad has uploaded several recordnings on SoundCloud lately. You get a lot of his old band qWibutee, but also a short "Snutt", that didn't make it to the solo album "Symphonies in My Head" (2011).
"Snutt" was recorded in the Sofienberg Church in Oslo.

Now do your own research in the "Kornstad Archives".

Håkon Kornstad - Jazz vs Opera -- a Tenor Battle

Håkon Kornstad on jazz and opera in his TEDx Talk in Oslo in October 2012.

Tenor Battle at Øyafestivalen

I have mentioned Håkon Kornstad´s jazz and opera project several times in the blog (recently from Moldejazz), and here he is again with Tenor Battle at the Øya Festival (Oslo) this summer, doing "Marechiare" by Tosti (1886).

Håkon Kornstad (sax, voc), Sigbjørn Apeland (org), Øyvind Skarbø (dr) and Per Zanussi (b).

Moldejazz - Thursday

I guess I should have attended Antony & The Johnsons outdoor concert here in Molde, but I have to admit I´m not very fond of outdoor concerts. I read the local Molde newspaper this morning, and it seems like Antony thought it was so nice here, that it was almost like living in Smurf country. He sure knows how to flatter people!

So, instead of freezing outdoors (summer only in theory here), I heard two completely different concerts, attended by what seemed like two completely different audiences (even if a few of us were both places).

More than 40 years old Globe Unity Orchestra were eleven musicians on stage (and what musicians!), and were greeted by an audience of around fifty people (some more came later) in a quite big venue. They played damned good, hot (!) free jazz, gave us some fantastic solos and the audience was totally quiet, except for the final applause!

These musicians really deserved some serious shout outs and whistling:
Evan Parker, Gerd Dudek, Henrik Walsdorff, (sax, clar), Rudi Mahall (b clar), Axel Dørner, Jean-Luc Capozzo, (tp), Nils Wogram, Christoph Thewes (tb), Alexander von Schlippenbach (p), Paul Lytton, Paul Lovens (dr).

Later in the evening there was a packed house for Håkon Kornstad and Tenor Battle.
Sax player and opera student Kornstad and his three musketeers, Sigbjørn Apeland (harmonium), Per Zanussi (b, saw) and Øyvind Skarbø (dr) really had the audience smiling.
I heard them do a great concert in a church in Bergen during the Nattjazz festival in May, but a club audience like this was even more suitable. Fantastic!

Håkon Kornstad Tenor Battle

Around midnight Monday Håkon Kornstad Tenor Battle played in the Korskirken church at the Nattjazz festival in Bergen.

Kornstad, both a veteran sax player and a first year opera student, has started to mix jazz and opera, with his new band Tenor Battle.
In jazz a "tenor battle" is a more or less friendly "fight" between to sax players, but I guess here it´s the sax player and the singer who fight (?) each other?

The band fit Kornstad in a perfect way, with Sigbjørn Apeland (introduced as the saviour of the harmonium), Per Zanussi (great bass and saw player) and Øyvind Skarbø (both discreetly adding color to the band sound, and throwing flashy backhand strokes to the floor).

A truly great evening in church!

I haven´t got the faintest idea what opera Kornstad is singing from here. Anyone else? Zanussi had just finished a saw solo when the video starts, but I guess sawing was not an issue in the original opera?

300 Acting Spaces with Kornstad and Gunia

The 300 Acting Spaces project keep rolling. Håkon Kornstad and Alex Gunia played in Oslo 16 April.
You will find all the concerts on 300as´s YouTube channel too.

Jazzed Out Oslo

Oh my! Please check out Håkon Kornstad in a teaser for a film called "Jazzed Out Oslo"!
Uploaded on YouTube by Mezzojazzedout, and I found it over at the hyperactive site "It´s a Trap".

We will also get to see other fine Norwegian musicians in the film, like Arild Andersen, Bugge Wesseltoft, Nils Peter Molvaer, Tord Gustavsen, Mats Eilertsen, Frøy Aagre, Eivind Aarset and Mari Kvien Brunvoll.

Symphonies In My Head

Oops, I thought I had blogged this one already, and now all of you have probably heard Håkon Kornstad´s solo album "Symphonies in my head" (Jazzland 2011) already?
I liked (and still like!) Kornstad´s previous solo albums "Single Engine" (Jazzland 2007) and "Dwell Time" (Jazzland 2009), but this one beats both of them.
The pieces are pretty strong melodies, and I was sure they were composed, but all of them are probably improvised. Håkon Kornstad with saxophone and loops in the Sofienberg church in Oslo. Absolutely wonderful!

Kornstad pins several of his most beautiful tracks on the map: "Sweden" and "Turkey, Texas" ("Single Engine"), "Oslo" ("Dwell Time"), and "Damaskus" and "Mandal" ("Symphonies in my head"). I´m waiting for "Bergen".

Here are a couple of videos. The first one is a full office concert (Norwegian Broadcasting Co., NRK) and then "Sweden" played in Perugia (Italia) in July 2011.

November festival

Lemur at Gråmølna from Lemur on Vimeo.

To kick off November, we are having a little festival today. The artists (top to bottom):

Michiyo Yagi Double Trio : Michiyo Yagi (21-string koto, vocal), Todd Nicholson (bass), Takashi Sugawa (bass), Tamaya Honda (drums), Noritaka Tanaka (drums) Live at Shinjuku Pit Inn, Tokyo (Japan), 2 September 2011.

Decoy: Steve Noble (drums), Alex Hawkins (piano), John Edwards (bass) + Joe McPhee (sax, trumpet). Cafe Oto (London) 29 October 2011.

Liarbird: Ola Kvernberg (violin), Bergmund Skaslien (viola), Håkon Kornstad (sax), Eirik Hegdal (sax), Ingebrikt Håker Flaten (bass) ,Ole Morten Vågan (bass), Torstein Lofthus (drums), Eirik Nylander (drums), Mathias Eick (trumpet). Bergen Jazzforum (Norway) 28 October 2011.

Lemur: Bjørnar Habbestad (flute), Michael Francis Duch (bass), Hild Sofie Tafjord (French horn) and Lene Grenager (cello). Gråmølna Art Gallery, Trondheim (Norway) (2011).

Liarbird live

Liarbird Kolben 19.09.11 from Rikskonsertene on Vimeo.

Last week I tried to convince you to listen to Ola Kvernberg´s album "Liarbird", and here you have one more post with music from "Liarbird". The Norwegian concert organizers Rikskonsertene uploaded a video from Kolben (Kolbotn) on Vimeo, and I wish more artists and organizers would share high quality videos!

The musicians are (taken from Rikskonsertene´s site, and I believe you will understand the Norwegian names of the instruments):
OLA KVERNBERG fioliner og mandolin
BERGMUND SKASLIEN fioliner
HÅKON KORNSTAD saksofon
EIRIK HEGGDAL saksofon
MATHIAS EICK trompet
INGEBRIGT HÅKER FLATEN - bass, elektronikk
OLE MORTEN VÅGAN - bass, elektronikk
TORSTEIN LOFTHUS - trommer
ERIK NYLANDER - trommer/perkusjon

Liarbird

Everybody and their grandmothers seem to like the album "Liarbird" (Jazzland 2011), so I better join the choir. I missed the concert, but Ola Kvernberg really made waves at the Molde International Jazz Festival in 2010 with this music, played by Norwegian musicians and sax man Joshua Redman (video below). Kvernberg and band did a couple of concerts more (without Redman), and recorded the material at Redroom Studio in Trondheim in June 2010.
Even if I expected some more power and energy in this music, I have to say it is full of great melodies. Some of it almost ambient, some of it swinging really good, we hear some eastern influences and we even get a bolero ("Olero").
I wonder if he uses the same tactic to attract listeners, as this "liar bird" when he tries to attract girls!?

Musicians: Ola Kvernberg (violin mm), Bergmund Waal Skaslien (viola, voc), Eirik Hegdal (sax, voc), Mathias Eick (tp), Håkon Kornstad (sax, fluteonette, voc), Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (bass, voc), Ole Morten Vågan (b, voc), Erik Nylander (dr, perc) og Torstein Lofthus (dr, perc). Cover art: Harald Øren.

A must have album!

Kornstad and Håker Flaten

On the video you may see Ingebrigt Håker Flaten and Håkon Kornstad play religious folk tunes in Strømø church, during the Drammen Sacred Festival in September 2010.

Håkon Kornstad recently did a solo concert  in the  Bellona environmentalists´office. It is produced by NRK (the Norwegian Broadcasting Co.), and you have to watch it (and I mean you have to do it!) over at their place, until I find an embed code at least.

Coxhill, Frith, Parker, 99 Minutes

- The Lol Coxhill Trio at The Playhouse during City of Derry Jazz & Big Band Festival 2011.  Lol Coxhill (sax),  Alan Niblock (bass) and Steve Noble (trommer).
Almost 50 minutes long!

- Fred Frith and Evan Parker at Cafe Oto (April 2011).


  99 Minutes Program 12 110510 Jazz by MIC Norway

- MIC Norway´s web cast series "99 Minutes" #12, by Guttorm Andreasen. Jazz festival edition, with among others Håkon Kornstad. The previous web casts here.

Hymns

Ingebrigt Håker Flaten and Håkon Kornstad play "Eg veit i himmelrik ei borg" at the Energimølla club (Kongsberg, Norway). Let me just remind you about, and once more recommend, the albums "Elise" and  "Mitt hjerte alltid vanker - 1".

Ingebrigt Håker Flaten is working with trumpet player Dennis Gonzalez on a similar project. Over at Amulets it is written that "The hymn project" is based on hymns that Flaten and Gonzalez grew up with. The album is released this month (March 2011), and you may read more at The Stash Dauber blog.

Mitt hjerte alltid vanker

Ingebrigt Håker Flaten and Håkon Kornstad recently released the follow up to the fantastic album "Elise"(Compunctio 2008). On "Mitt hjerte alltid vanker - 1" (meaning something like"My heart is always wandering") (Compundio 2011) they play some of the same songs as on  "Elise", but this album is different, more jazzy perhaps, partly because veteran drummer Jon Christensen is participating. The material was recorded live during the Oslo Jazz Festival in 2009, and is highly recommended.
Part two will be released on the same label this spring (only as mp3s).

Ingebrigt Håker Flaten and Håkon Kornstad played at the  Bergen Jazzforum Friday 18th February. As a duo the expression was more like what they did on "Elise", totally acoustic, with candle lights on the tables and good storytelling between the tunes. An absolutely brilliant concert!

Finally they did  "Akk Värmeland du sköna" (aka "Dear Old Stockholm"), and Håkon Kornstad did some fantastic singing, opera style like Jussi Björling. I swear I saw some tears among the audience.

Video festival

I could not make up my mind, to make best-of- lists or not today, and made a little video festival instead. I have got the impression that YouTube videos stops restarts and stops again more often than before,  but hopefully you can enjoy these great musicians.

These are quite fresh videos on YouTube, and from the top you may watch:
- Sidsel Endresen, Michiyo Yagi and Håkon Kornstad.
- The Thing with Joe McPhee (lots of new The Thing videos out there!).
- Trio Sonore (Vandermark, Gustafsson, Brötzmann).
- Free Fall (Vandermark, Wiik, Håker Flaten).
- Peter Brötzmann, Takashi Sugawa and Inage Candy.

Crab is crap

Sunday evening I saw Håkon Kornstad´s new trio Crab is crap, at Bergen Jazzforum´s free concert Jazzout. The trio is Håkon Kornstad (saxophones and sampling) and two local, hard working drummers Øyvind Skarbø and Øyvind Hegg-Lunde (and it might be their trio, and not Kornstad´s, for all I know!).
They played a great concert, with fine melodies, some rhythmic circus  and lots of pure fun. Kornstad claimed it felt more like Saturday than Sunday, and Skarbø even interviewed the other ones about their traveling habits. And the trio´s name was heard in Gambia, where a woman said "Crab is crap"!

Someone uploaded a (not to good quality) video on YouTube too.

Sometimes I feel the need to excuse myself for the lack of Robert Wyatt news in this blog. I hope you don´t mind too much, but I´m sure you must have noticed that I try to promote a lot of (more or less famous) Norwegian artists here! If you have visited this blog regularly you have also been exposed to my ramblings about other artists, more or less Wyatt related.
If you should feel that there is too much "and stuff" here, feel free to follow only posts with a Robert Wyatt tag. OK?

Flaten, Kornstad, Christensen

Compunctio will release two live albums with the trio Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (b), Håkon Kornstad (sax) and Jon Christensen (dr) in 2011. The recorded concerts were held in Oslo and Uppsala.

Here you get a teaser, with "Mitt hjerte altid vanker" (meaning something like "My Heart Is Always Wandering"), and don´t you forget the beautiful album "Elise" (Compunctio 2008).