Description
Ingebrigt HÃ¥ker Flaten grew up in a milieu clearly influenced by Pietist Christianity. The texts used on his new album were written by Thomas Kingo, Hans Brorson, and other hymnodists from the Lutheran Orthodoxy and the time of Pietism. On "Den signede dag" (The Blessed Day), Flaten takes a bold step by bringing the texts to the foreground.
Pietism strongly promotes a life in faith and humble service. The feeling of falling short as a human being, living in difficult circumstances with sickness, exhausting work, and poverty, resonates with the words of the hymns. Ingebrigt elevates the texts to the level of a surprising and challenging encounter for those of us who do not have Pietism's hymn texts under our skin. It is an encounter that inspires wonder, but also has a strange relevance for today's deep and fundamental questions: anxiety about the actions of world leaders, where natural disasters caused by the environmental crisis might lead to and how we offer aid and support to asylum seekers.
A dialogue plays out between Gunvor Fagerhaug's singing and Andreas Bjørkås's fiddle playing on the one side and Ingebrigt Håker Flaten's bass and the impressive line-up of Austin-based musicians from both hip-hop, free jazz, and electronica on the other. The result reflects Ingebrigt's vision of the music as ground-breaking and life-giving across traditional borders. In this way, "Den signede dag" is in itself a statement about coming together and creating meaning by listening to one another in a dialogue which, at first, may seem impossible.
Artists
Ingebrigt HÃ¥ker Flaten - bass
Gunvor Gustavsen - vocal
Andreas Bjørkås – violin / hardanger fiddle
Daniel Dufour - drums
William Steffen – tenor saxophone
Jonathan F. Horne – guitar (on 2-6)
Bob Hoffnar – pedalsteel (on 1 & 3)
Joe McPhee – soprano saxophone (on 2)