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If you're unfamiliar with the Norwegian trumpeter's solo work, you may have encountered him on one of the many projects he's contributed to including David Sylvian's Nine Horses, Supersilent, the Christian Wallumrød Ensemble or the first four Food records. His sound is unmistakable: breathy, impassioned and alternately earthy and ethereal.
Cartography is Arve Henriksen's fourth album and his first for ECM, parent label to Rune Grammofon which released Sakuteiki, Chiaroscuro and Strjon. As a result of the move, there's no Kim Hiorthoy cover design to gladden the heart, instead there's a rather dreary rain-streaked abstraction. The image is appropriate, though, as Cartography is Henriksen's darkest work to date.
Each album has to a greater or lesser extent been thematic and Cartography portrays a sense of uncertainty and loss engendered by contemporary life. It's an existential Scandinavian blues, if you will. Arve's trumpet is set like flashes of illumination in a gathering, overwhelming night. His immensely lyrical approach makes this all the more poignant and mines territory first explored on Chiaroscuro. Given the beauty of Arve's tone, it's a tribute to his artistry that Cartography at no point falls prey to the merely picturesque or sentimental.
Sampler Jan Bang and Erik Honoré provide production duties and guests include percussionist Audun Klieve, guitarist Eivind Aarset, Trio Mediaeval and singer Anna Maria Friman. David Sylvian also contributes two sonorously enunciated spoken word pieces which project semi-autobiographical themes that conjure dystopian near futures, like the film, The Children Of Men.
Louis Armstrong, Miles Davis, Don Cherry and Jon Hassell redefined the sound of the trumpet. It may be possible to see Henriksen joining this lineage, even as he pays a stylistic debt to Hassell. With Cartography, he continues to experiment while delving deeper into the wellsprings of feeling and native culture that have nourished him in his work to date. Cartography is a rich, moving work that rewards deep listening again and again. --Colin Buttimer
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The Guardian, (John L Walters), November 28, 2008
(4/5 stars) Henriksen is a brilliant, versatile improviser...a subtle, sonorous concerto for trumpet and electronics...snatches of vocals add human warmth.
(4/5 stars) Quite lovely...its Henriksen's vocalised trumpet that leaves the dominant impression in one's mind on this fine album. Excellent.
Henriksen confirms his status as the most compelling improviser on the planet...edgily ambient mood music conceived on a grand scale...
(4/5 stars) Quite lovely...its Henriksen's vocalised trumpet that leaves the dominant impression in one's mind on this fine album. Excellent.
Henriksen confirms his status as the most compelling improviser on the planet...edgily ambient mood music conceived on a grand scale...
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
Arve Henrikensen seems to have the ability to make his trumpet sound like a lost voice in a wilderness in this wonderful set of recordings. The guest inclusion of David Sylvian (ex 'Japan' member) on two of the tracks is why I initially purchased it, as I love all his work, if you know any of Sylvians recent work then you will also like this, it has the same feel. This is not in my view, 'Modern experimental jazz' or any other fancy term someone may wish to give it, its soundscapes that you can dive into and relax, as well as someone trying to push musical boundaries further by experimenting with what their instrument can do.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Vinyl
I bought this based on its critical reception. I was particularly excited by the comparison made with Jon Hassell. I also felt that ECM, who had recently begun issuing vinyl again, would have been choosing their most outstanding records for release on this medium. Now, there are certainly some striking sounds here, and the trumpet sound is very interesting, but on the whole I find that the music lacks the intelligence that would bring a stronger sense of cohesion, a more memorable shape and a more evolved sense of taste. Regard my last point here, consider the final track. It's an effective, atmospheric piece which is ruined by the sudden use of a banal harmony from a choir...! There are many instances of this kind of heterogenity, but the worst is the use of spoken recitation of some rather pedestrian poetry by an English writer. For me this really does ruin the record. I can overlook the other aspects I don't like, but the only way I could listen to this again is by skipping the tracks with the poetry. And these tracks are not even so cleverly produced. For instance, in the first poetry reading the spoken language is accompanied by delay lines. Yes, you hear an echo of the line! I think the last time this wasn't a hackneyed technique was in c. 1977 in Pink Floyd's Animals.
So, to conclude: some nice sounds, some innovative playing, but lacking in strong composition and an evolved sense of aesthetic taste.
But you should buy this because the more ECM vinyl we buy the more likely they are to release more.
So, to conclude: some nice sounds, some innovative playing, but lacking in strong composition and an evolved sense of aesthetic taste.
But you should buy this because the more ECM vinyl we buy the more likely they are to release more.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Cartography By any definition, this is extraordinary music. Arve Henriksen has singlehandedly created a whole new sound and texture for the trumpet that no-one else even comes close to. This is emotional, compelling, contemplative music of a very special kind being created and played by a master - if he's this good now, it's scary how good he could be when he gets to be Jan Garbarek's age. The comparison with Garbarek is deliberate, in that Garbarek created a new tone and style for the tenor sax the way Henriksen is doing for the trumpet. There's elements of traditional folksong, hints of 'classical music', and dissenters will probably call it 'new age', but this is a truly seminal record. If you're still not sure, check out the final track 'Sorrow and it's opposite', a beautiful trumpet melody played over Jan Bang's samples - exquisite.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
ambient jazz
arve henricksen goes from strength to strength - his finest offering to date. if you like david sylvian there is a lot of nuances of his work here, particularly redolent of DS's... Read more
Published on 31 Dec 2009 by A. SHAW
Bleak
I'm consistently under-whelmed by Henriksen's recorded output. He is a brilliant and original trumpet player but on this work and as a member of Supersilent, he likes to take... Read more
Published on 1 Feb 2009 by The Bodacious Cowboy
"The most sutil record i had ever heard"
This record, the second made by ARVE Henriksen it seems a conceptual work when you listen it without pause. Read more
Published on 31 Jan 2009 by Guillermo Rizzotto
Magnificent and just beautiful.
As I write, this CD isn't yet available in the UK. I bought a copy at the live show at Newcastle Sage Centre. By the way, the concert was breathtakingly good. Read more
Published on 28 Oct 2008 by BLG
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