Arve Henriksen - Towards Language

The Guardian 60

(Rune Grammofon)

A veteran of the mysterious avant garde Norwegian improvisational outfit Supersilent, Arve Henriksen is a trumpeter who rarely sounds as if he’s playing the trumpet. Instead, his instrument is muted and put through various FX units to create otherworldly sounds. On Patient Zero, he plays without a mouthpiece to sound like a bamboo flute; on Vivification, his ghostly improvisations sound like they’re being played on an ocarina; on Groundswell, he sounds like he’s slowly releasing air from an inflated balloon while someone plays Miles Davis’s Bitches Brew slowed down to 16rpm.

Related: Trumpeter Arve Henriksen: Norway's top brass