flaten + kornstad

Slowly I’ve been rediscovering the pulse, reinvigorating myself with some heavy listening time. This week, through a string of links which began with Destination:Out, I’ve been brought back to life by Ingebrigt Håker Flaten & Håkon Kornstad’s Elise. The entire thing can be streamed efficiently from here. Elise was released last year on Swedish label Compunctio, and pretty much the only place to get it if you reside in the UK is iTunes, which I generally object to for the crappy cut of profits that reaches the artist. Alas, I was left with no choice, but was pleased to find it was at least high-quality.

It’s Norwegian: a collaboration between saxophonist Håkon Kornstad, who plays bass and tenor saxes plus the flutonette, and double bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten,  of songs picked from the Haugian (that is, relating back to Scando legend Hans Nielsen Hauge and his associates) psalmbook of Flaten’s grandma. You may also know Flaten as one part of three piece Scorch Trio.

The sax is incredible, particularly in “Ak, Mon Jeg Staar I Naade” (which is translated – probably wrongly – by Google as ‘Ah, I wonder if I stand by grace’). It switches from irregular feathery undulations to sonorous noir-ish tones; cabaret swing after hours. The bass holds the rhythm together, a looped sequence of notes tying the leaping sax down, adding warm bassy hues to the occasional sharpness of the sax.

Ingebrigt Håker Flaten & Håkon Kornstad – Ak, Mon Jeg Staar I Naade

“Dagen Viger Og Gaar Bort” is a playful ditty, with ethnic signatures in clipped minor tones. In other places the duo follow more conventional lines, which (I think wrongly) calls to my mind John Zorn’s News For Lulu. Kornstad gets quite loungey at times; smooth and easy, and Flaten skews it just a touch.

Ingebrigt Håker Flaten & Håkon Kornstad – Dagen Viger Og Gaar Bort

Ingebrigt Håker Flaten & Håkon Kornstad – For Himmerigs Land Maa Man Kjempe

The pairs interaction is flawless, and pulls together free, lounge and more tribal sounds, plus a haunting vocal-only rendition of “Ak, Mon Jeg Staar I Naade” by Elise Flaten. It curves in a high arc of immersive, interesting and accessible jazz. The key feature is its soulfulness, which flows; meandering unsuspected around the empty spaces, or obviously, in a light hand on the double bass, or in the gentle caresses of the sax.