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EXTENDED ANALYSIS December 1, 2011

Hakon Kornstad: Symphonies In My Head

Håkon Kornstad Symphonies in My Head Jazzland Records 2011 Amidst a nation of musicians who fearlessly and seamlessly find ways to marry music and technology on the most human of terms, Håkon Kornstad still stands alone. Armed with an array of saxophones, flutes and weird hybrids like the flutonette (a clarinet mouthpiece on a flute body)--and a vintage looping device that may be limited compared to newer ones on the market, but is ...

ALBUM REVIEW December 1, 2011

Hakon Kornstad: Symphonies In My Head

By Eyal Hareuveni

The third consecutive solo album from Håkon Kornstad is an exemplary, creative work. The Norwegian saxophonist expands an already remarkable palette of sounds and technique from Single Engine (Jazzland, 2007) and Dwell Time (Jazzland, 2009) with musical references that continue to grow and surprise. As before, he manages to turn his improvisations into small symphonies, arresting in their structure and deep emotional impact. As with Dwell Time, Kornstad uses the excellent acoustics of Oslo's Sofienberg Church as ...

ALBUM REVIEW January 10, 2010

Hakon Kornstad: Dwell Time

By Andrey Henkin

32-year-old Norwegian saxophonist Håkon Kornstad continues to skirt the competing modern Scandinavian jazz aesthetics of Jan Garbarek and Mats Gustafsson. In 2008 he participated in the stunning Elise (Compuctio, 2008), a delicate acoustic duo exploration with bassist and countryman Ingebrigt Håker Flaten. Kornstad's Dwell Time is, in many ways, a companion piece to that disc in its sheer beauty and deliberateness. But where that album existed in the ether of resonating wood and metal, Dwell Time is unaccompanied, using live ...

ALBUM REVIEW October 10, 2009

Kornstad: Dwell Time

By Chris May

Norwegian saxophonist and flautist Håkon Kornstad began to acquire an international profile in the mid-2000s as a member of the electro-acoustic band Wibutee, and with burgeoning guest appearances with the likes of nu jazz auteur and keyboard player Bugge Wesseltoft and singers Sidsel Endresen and Anja Garbarek. What made Kornstad's playing so refreshing then, and continues to make it so in 2009, is the distance he stands apart from other Scandinavian saxophonists. On Wibutee albums like Playmachine (2005), the group's ...

ALBUM REVIEW October 8, 2009

Kornstad: Dwell Time

By Eyal Hareuveni

Prolific Norwegian reed player Håkon Kornstad is known for his conceptual and genre-bending work, beginning with the free improvising Kornstad Trio, experimenting with electronics on Wibutee, exploring chamber Jazz with fellow countryman, pianist Håvard Wiik and bassist Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, or collaborating with hip vocalist Anja Garbarek. On his second solo release he follows but still diverts from Single Engine (Jazzland Recordings, 2007). Whereas the latter focused on a variety of musical gestures and a wide spectrum of emotions and ...

ALBUM REVIEW October 5, 2009

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 ...

ALBUM REVIEW August 1, 2008

Hakon 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 ...