Norwegian Arve Henriksen may well be one of the most multifaceted musicians of his generation. Constantly searching, exploring classical and unusual paths. Henriksen’s musical alliances are the proof, as they vary from Satsuki Odamura, a master of the traditional Japanese koto, to rock band ‘Motorpsycho’, to improve sessions with Ernst Reisiger, Sten Sandell, Peter Friis-Nilsen, Terje Isungset, Marc Ducret ,Karl Seglem, as well as music groups ‘Supersilent’, ‘Christian Wallumrod Ensemble’ and ‘Trygve Seim Ensemble’.

This subversive trumpet player is enthralled by the sound of the Japanese Shakuhachi flute with its minimalist expressive quality, the roots of which can be traced back to Buddhist tradition. He explains: “I’ve always been interested in sound creation since I started playing the trumpet. I have spent hours upon hours trying to create a warm sound, for example, and more than that. In my opinion the trumpet has incredible potential as far varieties in tones and sounds that have not been heard are concerned. At some point around 1988, Nils Petter Molvær lent me a tape with the shakuhachi flute. Since then everything changed”. Arve Henriksen started collecting music featuring the Japanese koto, biwa, shakuhachi and other instruments. “I let the music bounce around inside my head. I was surprised by the shakuhachi flute’s sound. It led me in working with its tone and sound in a completely new direction”.
His interests do not end there. He draws inspiration from every type of traditional music, including Norwegian, while he is now exploring more modern genres, more electronic approaches and different ways of utilising his trumpet. This is more or less how his collaboration with Jan Bang came about.

The musical circles that Bang moves in include artists such as Jon Hassell, David Sylvian, Brian Eno, Sidsel Endresen and Nils Petter Molvaer. Bang went from being a successful pop producer in the ’90s, due to his pioneering work in live remixing and electronic improvisation, to being in constant demand, even by the most conventional artists. His live sampling is all about the process that leads to a “new instrument”, without its own representative sound. It has to do with the ability of a virtuoso to “capture” the real sound of an instrument during a performance and to process its musical core, analysing it in an endless spectrum of digital transformations.

In cooperation with Thessaloniki Concert Hall