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Jazz Articles about Hakon Kornstad
Kornstad: Dwell Time
by John Kelman
Since emerging in the 1990s with Wibutee, saxophonist/flautist Håkon Kornstad has gradually evolved into one of Norway's most exciting and innovative players--a description that would, no doubt, be applied by a broader international audience were he to recieve the exposure he so richly deserves. In recent years, combining unparalelled extended technique on his instruments with equally imaginative use of live electronics, Kornstad has become a solo artist like no other. Single Engine (Jazzland, 2007) demonstrated this intrepid player's ability to ...
Continue ReadingHakon Kornstad: Single Engine
by Budd Kopman
Saxophonist Håkon Kornstad, although barely into his thirties, has been involved over the last ten years in many different projects spanning many genres, always trying to stretch himself and expand the tools needed for self-expression. He has developed a distinctive sound on his horn and for those who know his music, an attitude that is serious, but with a twinkle-in-the-eye sense of humor. Single Engine represents the results of all of the work that has gone into ...
Continue ReadingHåkon Kornstad: Single Engine
by AAJ Italy Staff
Vogliamo innanzitutto tranquillizzare gli ascoltatori perché, sebbene si tratti di un disco quasi completamente per solo sassofono, non siamo di fronte a un lavoro ostico e difficile. Altra particolarità è data dal fatto che, sebbene esca per la Jazzland Recordings, l'elettronica non ha un ruolo centrale: si tratta anzi di un viaggio nell'universo di Håkon Kornstad giocato sulla scoperta delle sfumature e sull'esplorazione delle possibilità sonore del sax. L'inizio è lirico, il suono cristallino e ben levigato, Kornstad attacca al ...
Continue ReadingHakon Kornstad / Havard Wiik: The Bad And The Beautiful
by Budd Kopman
The Bad And The Beautiful marks the second installment of unique, intellectually stimulating and very emotional musical vignettes from saxophonist Håkon Kornstad and pianist Håvard Wiik, after Eight Tunes We Like (Moserobie, 2005). As was done previously, the tunes range from older and newer standards to intriguing tunes by today's composers, plus a couple of pop tunes that really work. Regardless of their pedigree, each piece has a certain latent possibility buried within it. Kornstad and Wiik's ...
Continue ReadingHakon Kornstad: Single Engine
by John Kelman
Solo saxophone recordings are hardly new in the jazz canon, but you'd be hard-pressed to find one like Kornstad's Single Engine. Håkon Kornstad's star has been on the ascendance on the Scandinavian scene in diverse improvisational contexts including free group Tri-Dim, Jazzland owner Bugge Wesseltoft's New Conception of Jazz club music and Wibutee, a group marrying improvisation and technology with an aggressive rock stance. Kornstad has proven himself a broadminded player, at home as a spare melodist but ...
Continue ReadingHakon Kornstad: Single Engine
by Eyal Hareuveni
Norwegian saxophonist Håkon Kornstad has been one of the central figures on the new Norwegian scene that aspires to break new vistas beyond the almost codified ECM representation of the Nordic scene. Kornstad has shown, over the last decade, a wide scope of expression and mood, with his post bop Kornstad Trio [Space Available (Jazzland, 2002)], and its collaborations with guitarist Pat Metheny and German avant-garde trumpeter Axel Dörner, on his free improvisations with drummer Paal Nilssen-Love [Schlinger,(Smalltown Supersound, 2003)]. ...
Continue ReadingHakon Kornstad and Havard Wiik: Eight Tunes We Like
by Budd Kopman
Hakon Kornstad and Havard Wiik have produced an absolute gem of an album that is on my short list for Best of 2005. The joys of Eight Tunes We Like are manifold and start with this release's title. They are being more than half coy by using the word “tunes . A glance at the track titles will reveal only one that could be said to come from “The Great American Songbook , and hence be a “tune . The ...
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