HÅKON KORNSTAD

SOLO:
DWELL TIME
2009

Dwell Time (2009)
Håkon Kornstad – tenor and bass saxophones, flute, flutonette and live looping

Saxophonist Håkon Kornstad has enjoyed critical praise not only for his performance technique and emotional intelligence, but also for his willingness to experiment in a wide range of different expressive moods.  Combining soundscapes and percussive beats and layers with a melodic sensibility, there’s always been a sense of awe when listening to his recordings.   In his newest offering, Dwell Time, we are again presented with his well-honed musicality, but this time the performances are all his own, in a scaled-down setting.   It is a solo effort in every sense of the word.

In eight pieces we are offered a variety of expressions.   From Still One, which seems to convey a reflective solitude, to the cool hipness of Oslo and the aptly titled Noir, Kornstad astounds us with his ability to masterfully grasp a spectrum of emotional output through his tenor sax, bass sax, flutonette, flute, in addition to his live looping.  Recorded in the Sofienberg Chruch in Oslo, the album is produced by Kornstad as well. 

“When I made Single Engine in 2007, I wanted to do an album that could gather all the things I’d done so far in my career,” Kornstad states.  “With Dwell Time it was different. I simply wanted to make a quieter album – with one mood throughout – one that could occupy the whole room if you wanted to, or even act as the background. I know, it’s provoking, isn’t it – the term “background music” shouldn’t be used by a serious, modern jazz musician… But here it is, the result of a couple of nights, alone in a church in Oslo. All the music was created there and then, with no overdubbing afterwards. I’ve killed some darlings. These are the survived ones.”