Live at Uppsala Sacred Music Festival

Ingebrigt Håker Flaten

Håkon Kornstad

Jon Christensen

DDL

Ingebrigt Håker Flaten and Håkon Kornstad deepen their dynamic co-operation on their two live albums »Mitt hjerte alltid vanker I« and »Mitt hjerte alltid vanker II«by adding the legendary jazz drummer Jon Christensen.

    The discovery and recording of his grandmother’s old hymns has opened a door to a musical treasury for double bass player Ingebrigt Håker Flaten. After recording the album »Elise« (Compunctio 2008) together with saxophonist Håkon Kornstad, they were both astonished over the synergy that was brought forth between themselves and the musical material. Whilst touring with the music from »Elise« the question eventually arose: How do we continue this musical journey? And if possible, how do we go deeper, further? The answer became: Jon Christensen!

    On the album  »Mitt hjerte alltid vanker I«, recorded in the beautiful Kulturkirken Jakob (Norway) during Oslo jazz festival in August 2009, we can enjoy music bursting with playfulness,  improvisation and musical boldness. The same goes for the new album »Mitt hjerte alltid vanker II«, recorded live at Uppsala Sacred Music Festival (Sweden) in October 2009. By listening to both concerts, with some of the same songs, one will understand how acoustics, artistic moods and different audiences can affect improvisational music and how surprising the different results can become.

Thomas Conrad wrote the following lines about the Oslo concert in the American magazine Stereophile (Jan. 2010):

»… music of strange, stark lyricism and surpassing quietness«. The New York magazine All About Jazz declared that the concert was one of the best during the festival and the critic Terje Mosnes gave the concert a full page of praise in the Norwegian newspaper Norska Dagbladet (Aug. 14, 2009). In the USA, Elise concerts have been acknowledged in publications such as The New York Times, Village Voice and Time Magazine, amongst others.

    The album, »Mitt hjerte alltid vanker I« is the continuation of Ingebrigt Håker Flaten and Håkon Kornstad’s musical journey through the treasure trove of Norwegian hymns. With Jon Christensen on the drums it also becomes a heartfelt meeting between three of Norway’s most eminent jazz musicians from two generations.