It may be technically correct to label Arve Henriksen a “jazz trumpeter”, but it feels wrong. He does come from a jazz background, and he does play the trumpet. But he plays the trumpet in a manner that, to these ears at least, doesn’t conform to any usual notions of jazz.

Rather, Henriksen’s trumpet playing shows the heavy influence of the shakuhachi, a Japanese flute traditionally used by Buddhist monks as an aid for meditation and known for its breathy, otherworldly tones. Henriksen’s playing is often the model of restraint: he can kick up a whirling dervish of sound but his tone is often much more contemplative and stately, pulsing here and there amidst gasps and wisps of sound that can be surprisingly evocative given their slight structure.

Likewise, calling Cartography, Henriksen’s first album for the venerable ECM label, a “jazz album” may be technically correct, but it, too, feels wrong. As is the case with Henriksen’s playing, the term “jazz” just doesn’t do the music here justice. There may be moments that could fall under “traditional” ideas of jazz, but the album’s sonic palette is broader than that, venturing into the wide expanse of ambient and experimental music. The result is a record that is obtuse at times, loosely structured (if at all), and meandering, but is also very evocative and stirring.

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