This is a really hard task to encompass a musician like Ingebrigt Håker Flaten in a specific genre as well as to associate him to a single group or music trend.
This Norwegian electric and upright bassist, born in 1971, is endeed one of the most surprising and avant-garde artist out there; he’s very involved in many innovative projects, from the most fruitful experimentation to a constant interplay which allows musicians to listen to each other in order to find a strong cohesion.
The list of his collaborations is really impressive: they range from The Young Mothers to the incredible trio The Thing (with Mats Gustafsson and Paal Nilssen-Love); from the suggestive and overwhelming quintet Atomic to the Scorch Trio, together with Raoul Bjorkenheim and Frank Rosaly.

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       Compito proibitivo, quello di ascrivere un musicista come Ingebrigt Håker Flaten a un genere musicale in particolare e inquadrarlo solo in un gruppo o in una corrente stilistica.
Il contrabbassista e bassista elettrico norvegese, classe 1971, infatti è uno dei più stupefacenti e avanguardistici agitatori musicali in circolazione, impegnatissimo in progetti contrassegnati dal senso di ricerca, dalla sperimentazione più proficua e da un costante interplay che permette ai musicisti di ascoltarsi l’un l’altro per trovare una forte coesione.
La lista dei progetti in cui è coinvolto Ingebrigt è impressionante: dai The Young Mothers all’incredibile The Thing (con Mats Gustafsson e Paal Nilssen-Love), dal suggestivo e travolgente quintetto Atomic allo Scorch Trio, in compagnia di Raoul Bjorkenheim e Frank Rosaly.

Ingebrigt Håker Flaten is an expressive upright bassist: he’s really powerful as well as sensitive; as an electric bassist he has the rare capacity to harmonize a jazz attitude with a rock espression, almost in the style of Frank Zappa. Ingebrigt, after all, has a comprhenesive approach to music, so much that many people remember his militancy in the Bugge Wesseltoft New Conception Of Jazz, in addition to his notable experience with Close Erase (along with Christian Wallumrød on piano and Per Oddvar Johansen on drums).
In this interview, Ingebrigt analyses the difference between Norwegian scene – his native land – and the United States where he’s been resident for a long time. He also mentions the great figure of Bjørnar Andresen, the amazing norwegian bassist who passed away early in 2004 and moreover he tells us about his continuous and unstoppable hunger for notes, encounters and music which paves the way as well as possible towards the future, whilst not forgetting the roots.

Ingebrigt Håker Flaten è un contrabbassista espressivo, dotato di rara potenza ma anche di grande sensibilità; come bassista elettrico ha la capacità non comune di armonizzare un approccio mentale jazzistico con un piglio rock quasi zappiano. Del resto, Ingebrigt ha davvero attraversato la musica a 360 gradi, tanto che molti ne ricordano anche la scintillante permanenza nel Bugge Wesseltoft New Conception Of Jazz  e la notevolissima esperienza nei Close Erase (con Christian Wallumrød al piano e Per Oddvar Johansen alla batteria).
Nell’intervista che ci ha concesso, Ingebrigt analizza le differenze di scena tra la Norvegia, sua terra natia, e gli USA, dove risiede già da diversi anni, ricorda la grande figura di Bjørnar Andresen, splendido bassista norvegese scomparso prematuramente nel 2004 e ci racconta della sua continua e irrefrenabile fame di note, di incontri e di musica che tracci al meglio la strada verso il futuro, senza per questo dimenticare le radici.

BMF: Let’s start from your beginnings. Would you like to tell us how did you start to approach bass? Why did you choose it?

Ingebrigt Håker Flaten: I originally started to play classical piano, then guitar, but nothing stuck with me. My twin brother took the carrier as a piano player but when I was ten they needed a bass player for the gospel choir in my village and I started taking a few lessons and then was assigned for the rhythm section together with my twin brother on piano and my best friend on drums. We later started a fusion trio called NEON, but that’s an entirely different story.. ha!
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BMF: What kind of music were you used to listen to during your formative years? Who were the musicians by whom you get inspired? And what about your main influences especially as regards both electric and double bass?

IHF: Well, I’m from a very musical family (we’re six siblings) and all of them play music, my (late) father was an organ player in church and my mother sang. So there’s always been music around us, but of course mostly church related. After I started playing electric bass in the choir I got really fascinated by a lot of the funk/fusion music like Koinonia, Mezzoforte and so on, but once I heard AC/DC from my neighbour I realised there was another kind of music out there as well, and I started to search for that! I think my earliest inspirations – which were directly connected to the acoustic and electric bass before I had really started studying – was Swedish Palle Danielsson who played with the Scandinavian edition of the Keith Jarrett Quartet with Jan Garbarek and Jon Christensen, then also of course Jaco Pastorius! But one of my first live concert-kick’s was with Terje Rypdal’s The Chasers band together with Audun Kleive on drums and Bjørn Kjellemyr on bass. Bjørn was definitely one of my earliest inspirations as well! Then I started to study with Odd Magne Gridseth in Trondheim, leading up to my years studying at the Conservatory in Trondheim, and he got me onto bass players like Niels Henning Ørsted-Pedersen, Sam Jones etc; he was an amazing player and an important (and only) bass teacher I really ever had!
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BMF: Che tipo di musica eri solito ascoltare durante i tuoi anni formativi? Quali sono state le tue ispirazioni e le tue influenze principali per quanto riguarda il basso elettrico e il contrabbasso?

IHF: Dunque, io provengo da una famiglia di musicisti (siamo in sei, tra fratelli e sorelle) e ognuno di noi suona. Il mio rimpianto padre era un organista della chiesa e mia madre cantava. Perciò siamo siempre stati circondati dalla musica, ma ovviamente si trattava per lo più di un repertorio sacro. Dopo aver iniziato a suonare il basso elettrico nel coro rimasi affascinato da tutta quella musica funky e fusion come i Koinonia, i Mezzoforte e così via. Ma una volta ascoltati gli AC/DC dai miei vicini realizzai che esisteva tutto un altro universo, così andai alla ricerca di quello! Credo che tra le mie prime ispirazioni direttamente connesse al contrabbasso e al basso elettrico- prima che io iniziassi a suonare – ci siano stati lo svedese Palle Danielsson che suonava con la versione scandinava del Keith Jarrett Quartet con Jan Garbarek e Jon Christensen, poi certo anche Jaco Pastorius! Ma una delle mie prime esperienze ad un concerto live fu quello del Terje Rypdal & The Chasers insieme a Audun Kleive alla batteria e Bjørn Kjellemyr al basso. Anche Bjørn è stato in assoluto una delle mie prime ispirazioni. In seguito iniziai a studiare con Odd Magne Gridseth a Trondheim, negli anni che precedevano la frequenza del Conservatorio nella stessa città, e lui mi avvicinò a bassisti del calibro di Niels Henning Ørsted-Pedersen, Sam Jones etc; era un musicista straordinario ed il più importante ed unico insegnante che abbia mai avuto! 

When I started studying jazz in 1992 and – I was exposed to the whole history of jazz – I got heavy into players like Jimmy Garrison, Charlie Haden, Scott LaFaro, Charles Mingus, Paul Chambers, Ron Carter, Gary Peacock, Henry Grimes, Steve Swallow etc etc, since then I left the electric bass more and more in favour of the acoustic until I picked it up again in the early 2000. Also, after ending my studies in 1995, I moved to Oslo and shortly after I met Bjørnar Andresen who was part of the sixties scene in Norway and also played and was very much involved with the people in the scene around Garbarek, Christensen etc. Bjørnar was an important figure in developing the Norwegian sound but he pushed it much more to the Surreal and Avant Garde. Bjørnar was also very close to George Russel and he was part of  Svein Finnerud Trio which was heavily inspired by the Paul Bley Trio, became an iconic band in Norway back in the 70’s / 80’s. He made a big impact on me both as an original bass player (electric and acoustic) and a charismatic person; we became really close friends and even if I didn’t have a single bass lesson I’d say is one of my most important inspirations.

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BMF: With you I can’t help but talk about the rich norwegian jazz scene that has grown considerably in the last 20 years. The whole world of jazz often asked itself about the reasons of this huge creativity and organisational capacity; italian journalist Luca Vitali wrote in this respect a really interesting and expository book. As an insider, how do you explain this “Made In Norway” excellence? And also, do you think there’s a specific “nordic sound”?

IHF: Yes, there’s definitely a specific Nordic Sound and the ECM label was helping establishing that in their early years when they started out with Jan Garbarek, Terje Rypdal, Arild Andersen and Jon Christensen. The way they mixed their music with norwegian folk, and jazz heavily inspired by jazz great musicians like Don Cherry, George Russel, John Coltrane, Albert Ayler, Sonny Rollins etc etc  made a huge impact on the scene in Norway for decades and ECM later made a trademark out of releasing albums that maintained that ‘vibe’ and often had a LOT of reverb.… I think in many ways that Jan Garbarek, Jon Christensen and Arild Andersen were some of the most important reasons in shaping such a strong jazz scene in Norway, but there are obviously reasons, and one of them is definitely the Jazz Conservatory in Trondheim that started in 1979 (established by Terje Bjørklund, Jon Pål Inderberg and Erling Aksdal), it was based on a ‘different’ pedagogic approach than most jazz-schools today where they were and still are focusing more on auditive (listening) training than visual (reading) music education. You would be surprised how many of the Norwegian jazz-musicians now well known around the world been studying there. I think that the school in Trondheim had and still has a big impact on the reasons why there are so many jazz musicians with an original and individual approach from Norway. You could also probably say the fact that Norway is completely off the map geographically, which has contributed to also shape musicians who could able to do things their own way out of necessity..

BMF:     I’d like to know your opinion about another unquestionable norwegian excellence, which is in general typical of North European countries, that is to say the merit of having generated an extraordinary and kaleidoscopic double bass current, the list would be so long… Here again, what are the reasons of this energy, in your view?   

IHF: That’s a hard question really, but Niels Henning Ørsted-Pedersen, Palle Danielsson, Arild Andersen and Anders Jormin to name some, have surely had an huge impact in putting scandinavian bass players on the map as world-renowned musicians and created a tradition and a scene of strong bass players who since then seemed to have grown. It’s truly very inspiring to know and hear all the amazing bass players around today, the level of musicianship is enormously high!
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BMF:  Voglio chiederti ora, nello specifico, la tua opinione circa un’altra indubbia eccellenza norvegese e dei paesi del Nord Europa in genere: quella di aver prodotto una scuola contrabbassistica eccezionale e caleidoscopica, l’elenco sarebbe lunghissimo. Anche qui, quali le ragioni di questa forza?

IHF: È davvero una domanda difficile, ad ogni modo Niels Henning Ørsted-Pedersen, Palle Danielsson, Arild Andersen e Anders Jormin (per citarne solo alcuni) hanno sicuramente avuto un grande ruolo nel portare alla ribalta i bassisti scandinavi, rendendoli dei musicisti di fama mondiale, ed hanno creato una tradizione ed una scena di bassisti validi che nel frattempo sono maturati. È davvero molto stimolante conoscere ed ascoltare tutti questi artisti oggi, il livello di sensibilità per la musica è molto alto!

BMF: Speaking of Norway, may I ask you to talk about a personal memory about Bjørnar Andresen?

IHF: Yes, my first memory that comes up is after I met him for the first time back in Oslo in 1996; I was playing a gig with piano player Vigleik Storås and drummer Espen Rud (the original drummer in Svein Finnerud Trio) when Bjørnar showed up. I didn’t know him then and was kinda terrified by his presence (he was a big guy and took a lot of space both physically and mentally). We played some standards in the piano trio tradition, and I think he liked my bass playing and he invited me to come to his home the next day telling me he wanted to ‘talk’ to me. I showed up not knowing what to expect and I was very nervous.. his kids were there and he’ve also invited a drummer friend who was prepared with a pair of brushes on some newspapers on his living room table. Bjørnar told me he was there to keep the beat while I was supposed to play this song «vem kan segla forutan vind» ..  it’s a very well known and beautiful swedish kids song and Bjørnar loved it a lot! So there I was playing bass in front of Bjørnar and his kids and this drummer, none of them I’ve ever seen before, I tried to play the melody while Kjell (the drummer) kept the beat and Bjørnar was singing and crying because he loved the song so much. He was a very sensitive and emotional man! It was surreal and bizarre experience but it thought me a lesson of listening and focusing on the beat for sure! Haha!!! Another thing he later told me (that he got from George Russell) was: «Follow your core, it won’t lead you wrong!». I’ve tried the best I can to follow that advice!I loved Bjørnar a lot, I miss him dearly.

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BMF: Restando in Norvegia, posso chiederti un ricordo personale che hai di Bjørnar Andresen?

IHF: Sì, il primo ricordo che mi viene in mente risale al mio primo incontro con lui una volta ritornato a Oslo nel 1996; stavo suonando ad un concerto con il pianista Vigleik Storås ed il batterista Espen Rud (il batterista originario dello Svein Finnerud Trio) quando Bjørnar si presentò. Non lo conoscevo a quel tempo ed ero un po’ terrorizzato dalla sua presenza (era un omone e prendeva un sacco di spazio sia fisicamente che mentalmente). Ci mettemmo a suonare alcuni standards nella tradizione del piano trio e credo che gli sia piaciuto il mio stile, e mi invitò a casa sua il giorno successivo dicendomi che voleva parlarmi. Mi sono presentato senza sapere cosa aspettarmi dunque ero molto nervoso. I suoi figli erano lì e lui invitò pure un suo amico batterista che era pronto con un paio di spazzole su alcuni giornali disposti sul tavolo del soggiorno. Bjørnar mi disse che era lì per tenere il ritmo mentre io avrei dovuto suonare questa canzone “Vem Kan Segla Förutan Vind” che è un pezzo molto conosciuto del repertorio per bambini e Bjørnar lo amava molto! Così ero lì a suonare il basso di fronte a Bjørnar, ai suoi figli e a quel batterista, senza aver mai visto prima nessuno di loro; tentavo di interpretare la melodia mentre Kjell (il batterista) manteneva il ritmo e Bjørnar cantava e piangeva, perché adorava letteralmente quella canzone. Era un uomo davvero sensibile ed emotivo! Fu un’esperienza surreale e singolare eppure mi impartì di certo un insegnamento su come ascoltare e focalizzarmi sul ritmo. Un’altra cosa che mi disse in seguito (che lui stesso apprese da George Russell) fu: «Segui la tua anima, non ti farà mai sbagliare!» Ho cercato di fare del mio meglio per seguire quel consiglio! Ho amato molto Bjørnar, e mi manca profondamente.

BMF: The list of your recordings is really impressive, most of all because the great number of projects and collaborations tallies with the objectively high quality of your works, which is not so easy. Close Erase, Bugge Wesseltoft’s NCOJ, The Thing, Scorch Trio, Element, Free Fall, The Young Mothers…  and many others. It seems that your curiosity and urge to communicate, lead you to continuously prove yourself. And in addition, those contexts are also different from each other, which is as it should be. How would you describe this “hunger” for music and experiences?  

IHF: I think I get easily bored and I find it an urge to push myself into new situations where I play with new people and search new musical environments etc. I’m quite eclectic when it comes to taste and often I feel I’m kinda an outsider in many of my groups because I feel that all the other musicians I’m playing with always seem to be so much more focused in one specific genre. tho; this was before I met my brothers in The Young Mothers, haha. I like to create surprising sounds of music with my groups and try to avoid the obvious path without it becoming forced. I also think all the groups you mentioned (and also Atomic – one of my main bands still) who are very specific in each of their genres and I feel very fortunate to have been working with musicians with such an extreme high level of work – and music-aesthetics and whom all of them have the urge to always push the music forward, which is pushing me to constantly renew and challenge myself. In order to survive the life as a touring musician it feels like a necessity to always play in bands where the music feels fresh!
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BMF: La lista delle tue incisioni è realmente impressionante, soprattutto perché la quantità di progetti e collaborazioni collima con una qualità oggettivamente altissima, e non è semplice. Close Erase, Bugge Wesseltoft’s NCOJ, The Thing, Scorch Trio, Element, Free Fall, The Young Mothers… e moltissimi altri. Si direbbe che la tua curiosità e la tua voglia di esprimerti ti spingano a metterti in gioco di continuo. In aggiunta, i contesti sono anche diversi tra loro, come è giusto che sia. Questa “fame” continua di musica ed esperienze come la descriveresti?

IHF: Credo di annoiarmi facilemente così ho come l’urgenza di buttarmi in nuove situazioni in cui suonare con persone nuove ed esplorare nuovi contesti musicali etc. Sono abbastanza eclettico in tema di gusti e spesso mi sento un po’ un outsider in molti dei miei gruppi perché avverto che gli altri musicisti con cui interagisco tendano a focalizzarsi di più su di un genere specifico; questo succedeva prima che incontrassi i miei fratelli nei The Young Mothers. Mi piace dare vita ad un tipo di sound inatteso con il mio gruppo e tento di evitare i sentieri più ovvi, senza che diventino costrittivi. Penso inoltre che tutti i gruppi da te menzionati (compresi gli Atomic, ancora una della mie band principali) sono molto specifici in ciascuno dei loro generi ed io mi sento molto fortunato di aver lavorato con musicisti dotati di un così alto livello di estetica musicale e che hanno tutti l’urgenza di spingere oltre la musica, il che mi incita a rinnovarmi costantemente e a mettermi alla prova. Al fine di sopravvivere come turnista, sembra proprio una necessità suonare continuamente nelle band dove la musica risulti fresca!

BMF: You have been living in US for such a long time, which have broadened your opportunities to discover new projects and experiment new challenges. Is there, in this regard, a great difference (as many people still think) between the generally intended european and US scenes?

IHF: There’s absolutely a HUGE difference and the simple explanation is that the reality of life is very different in the US vs EU, and that obviously shapes how musicians work. Even if things are changing dramatically everywhere around the globe as we speak; in most of EU and specially in Scandinavia you can still easily get help from the governments in forms of grants and a well working welfare society to help living a life as a creative musician/artist operating playing/doing quite marginal music/art. While in the US -where grants and a working welfare system are mostly none existing- you either have to find a day-job, teach, or tap into the more commercial music biz to survive. These are all crucial factors to the flexibility of an artist and they shape how you work. Because of this it might exist a more urgency in the US if you’ve chosen to play jazz or improvised music. All the musicians I know and work with are extremely hard working and very strong in their field and I find it very inspiring to work with them. Life is in general “easier” in Europe and musicians/artists are able to create more freely without the constant reminders of the harsh realities of life. tho; this is of course not the situation everywhere, and the backside of a well working welfare system might be that some take the support for granted, which again can create some kinda dependency of the “system” and lack of urgency.

BMF: Da diversi anni vivi negli USA. Questo ha allargato le tue possibilità di scoprire progetti e di vivere nuovi stimoli? E ti chiedo, c’è a tuo parere una grande differenza (come pensano ancora in molti) tra la scena genericamente europea e quella statunitense?

IHF: C’è in assoluto una differenza enorme, e la spiegazione evidente risiede nel fatto che le condizioni di vita sono molto diverse tra gli Stati Uniti e l’Europa, il che definisce chiaramente come lavorano i musicisti. Anche se le cose stanno cambiando drammaticamente dappertutto nel mondo mentre parliamo, nella maggior parte d’Europa e specialmente in Scandinavia è possibile ancora ricevere degli aiuti dal governo sotto forma di sovvenzioni e grazie ad un welfare che lavora bene nel supportare chi sceglie di vivere come musicista/operatore del settore artistico, artefice di musica/arte marginale. Al contrario negli Stati Uniti – dove garanzie ed un sistema di welfare sociale funzionante sono per la maggior parte inesistenti – tu devi pergiunta  trovarti un altro lavoro, insegnare, o inserirti nel business della musica più commerciale per sopravvivere. Si tratta di fattori cruciali per la flessibilità di un artista e definiscono il modo in cui lavori. Per questo motivo dovrebbe esistere un piano di assistenza negli States nel momento in cui scegli di suonare jazz o improvvisazione. Tutti i musicisti che conosco e con cui collaboro lavorano duramente e sono molto solidi nel loro campo e trovo sempre stimolante collaborare con loro. La vita è in genere “meno complicata” in Europa e i musicisti/artisti sono in grado di creare più liberamente senza il costante richiamo alla dura realtà della vita. Ovviamente non è così dappertutto ed il rovescio di un sistema giusto di welfare potrebbe essere quello di dare per scontato il sostegno, il che potrebbe creare di nuovo un certo cortocircuito e favorire una mancanza di urgenza. 

There are always two sides to a coin but I strongly believe that any civilised society should support arts and music, like medical assistance and should never be looked at as an expense but as a privilege everybody should have access to, like health care. It’s really chocking to see the ignorance when it comes to this all around the world these days! Anyway, when it comes down to being on the band-stand and playing music together; who give the shit! I think it’s important to understand the big differences in realities of life around -and you gotta live somewhere for a while to understand that- but people need to stop thinking like “us” and “them”. It’s important to understand that we’re all into it for the same reasons and that it’s all about the love of art/music and the need to be an artist/musician. Everybody has their own path and challenges wherever you live in the world and it feels more important than ever to stand together! So to answer your question: the world is changing and the usual idea about how different the american jazz musicians and the european jazz musicians are is about to change and equal out, I think.  ​

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Ci sono sempre i due lati della medaglia ma credo fortemente che ogni società civile debba supportare le arti e la musica,  alla stregua dell’assistenza sanitaria, perciò non dovrebbe essere considerata come un costo ma come un diritto a cui tutti dovrebbero avere accesso, proprio come le cure mediche. È davvero angosciante constatare l’ignoranza quando si arriva a questo in tutto il mondo, ai giorni nostri. Ad ogni modo si tratta di salire sul palco e suonare insieme; chi se ne frega! Credo che l’importante sia capire le sostanziali differenze di vita che ci sono in giro – e ci devi convivere per un po’ per comprenderle – ma le persone dovrebbero smetterla di pensare contrapponendo il “noi” con il “loro”. È fondamentale rendersi conto che siamo tutti lì per le medesime ragioni, vale a dire per l’amore verso l’arte e la musica ed il bisogno di essere un artista e un musicista. Ognuno ha il suo cammino personale e si mette alla prova ovunque si trovi a vivere e risulta più importante che mai restare uniti! Dunque per rispondere alla tua domanda: il mondo sta cambiando e l’idea abituale riguardo a quanto differenti siano i musicisti jazz statunitensi rispetto a quelli europei sta per cambiare e ad annullarsi, credo. ​

BMF: Besides your artistic union with Paal Nilssen-Love, who would you consider as trail mates and brothers in the course of your career and personal path?

IHF: I would say that aside of my “trail-mates” in Atomic and The Thing whom I’m spending most of my time on the road with, my brothers in The Young Mothers are some of my closest friends! We’re on the same wavelength and we are trying to break new ground together, it’s beautiful, these human beings mean a lot to me on so many levels!

BMF:  It’s not so common for your collegues to prove to be so comfortable with both electric and upright bass, as you do. Sometimes it may be difficult to combine so different approachs. But whilst listening to your music, it’s evident that both attitudes enrich one another, through a sort of reciprocal improvement…

IHF: Yeah, I do love the different approaches of the electric and the acoustic bass. I’ve learned to really appreciate how different they operate and I feel they fulfil and inspire each other for sure!

BMF:  Are you passionate about literature or movie? Do you believe in the exchange between different arts?

IHF: YES I DO! I love literature and always wish I could read more, I deeply and honestly respect the art of writing, and think it’s one of the most important art forms! And movies are my passion, I see a lot of movies all the time and find a lot of inspiration in the visual and emotional impact of moving images with sound. I always wished to create movie scores with my music and I always think images when hearing music.

 BMF: What’s your opinion about the evolution of the electric bass and double bass? Is there still any chance to innovate their respective languages?

IHF: Of course, there’s always new things to do, it might be on a micro level, but  definitely there are still possibilities untouched. You gotta really get to the bottom of the instrument and that might take you a lifetime (or two- haha), but there are still things to do!

BMF: Would you like to talk about your actual gear?

IHF: Well, I got my “Fender Precision-63 Pre CBS” stolen from me last year in Hong Kong and I’ve never missed any of my instruments more, it was a beautiful and amazingly dynamic instrument that I still haven’t found a replacement for. Now I’m playing an amazing “hybrid” of a bass that I actually got from Bjørnar Andresen back in the days; a Rickenbacker that he made into a fretless and put Fender pic-ups on, it’s a weird weird instrument that I appreciate more and more! For the acoustic bass I’m a lifelong warrior of the “gut strings sound” and I will always work towards the possibilities of getting that worked out even with my “removable neck” Christopher bass-travel model that I’m playing now. As regards amps: vintage ampeg or orange are the only two options if you’re going for a neutral sound: it works both for electric and acoustic and play super soft or loud as hell! But on acoustic I prefer if possible to play totally acoustic using the REMIC microphone and (if needed) the David Gage “lifeline” pick up for stage monitoring sound, that’s my best “remedies” to get the sound that I want these days even if you always have to be prepared for compromises as long as you need to put your horne through a speaker….

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BMF: In your career you have ranged from classic jazz to free improvisation and you have been one of the people who pioneered the union between jazz and electronic music. Do these different approaches and contexts also reflect your identity of listener? We’re also so curious to know your preferences as a listener. Would you like to mention me any album you feel closer to and that you think it is essential for you? According to your style and career it’s easy to assume that you are open minded…

IHF:  Holy shit, that’s a hard question cause there are so many and they change all the time, haha! But here below there are some albums / recordings that are coming up on the spot and that have definitely been very important to me (a lot of jazz, i know..):

• Niels Henning Ørsted-Pedersen/ Archie Shepp – Looking At Bird
• Bill Evans Trio – Sunday at the Village Vanguard
• Curtis Mayfield – Superfly
• John Coltrane Quartet  – Cresent
• John Coltrane – A Love Supreme
• Miles Davis Quintet – In Person Friday Night at the Blackhawk
• Miles Davis Quintet – Live At The Plugged Nickel
• Charles Mingus presents Charles Mingus
• Jacqueline Du Pre – Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E Minor, Op 85
• Terje Rypdal Trio – Chaser
• John Stevens Spontaneous Music Ensemble – Karyobin
• Svein Finnerud Trio – Plastic Sun
• Albert Ayler Quartet – The Hilversum Session
• Coleman Hawkins & Sonny Rollins – Sonny Meets Hawk
• Joe Henderson/Charlie Haden/Al Foster – An Evening With Joe henderson
• Ornette Coleman – The Shape Of Jazz To Come
• Roswell Rudd and Steve Lacy – School Days
•  Keith Jarret – My Song
• Archie Shepp – Magic Of JuJu
• Al Green – I’m Still In Love With You
• Glenn Gould – The Goldberg Variations (1955 and 1981)

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and then some curiosities for sentimental reasons:

• AC/DC – Back In Black
• Queen – A Day At The Races​

BMF: Compact disc are disappearing as support, all the experts in the field are holding this debate. The return of vinyl seems to be a sort of resistance. What’s your opinion about it?

IHF: Yeah, it’s nothing that can be done with this: the digital music is taking over. There is so much to say about this and it’s totally changing how people are listening to music. And the streaming industry is mostly extremely unethical and really ruins the income from record sales for the musicians! It has some positive sides too, and, it’s good to see that vinyls are back more than ever, that’s very uplifting!  Let’s just leave it at that for now… lol

BMF:  What are your plans for the immediate future and the days to come? Is there any opportunity to see you here in Italy sooner or later? 

IHF: I really hope so, I love playing in Italy and hopefully we’ll be at the Novara Jazzfest in June with The Young Mothers. In March I’m on the road with The Thing and we have a lot of gigs on this 2018 tour after my return to my home village Oppdal in Norway where I performed with some folk musicians from there for a release of my recent album “Village Songs” – a production that I made with those incredible musicians based on religious hymns from my village and mixed up with Jazz musicians from Austin, it’s very exciting!
​ I’ve closed 2017 with a residency in Altbüron/Switzerland together with Ignaz Schick, Oliver Steidle and Jan Schlegel where we have worked on some improvised, electronic / noise music, using my electric bass and pedals. Aside for that there’s much happening and many tours with old and new constellations going on for the whole year.
​ I’ll try to keep my website up to date so you can follow me there:

 www.ingebrigtflaten.com

BMF: I dischi stanno scomparendo, se ne discute tra addetti ai lavori. Il ritorno al vinile sembra l’unica forma di resistenza. Che cosa ne pensi?

IHF: Sì, non c’è nulla che possiamo fare a tal proposito, la musica digitale sta assumendo il controllo di tutto. Ci sarebbe molto da dire al riguardo e le modalità di ascolto musicale da parte della gente sta radicalmente cambiando. Inoltre l’industria musicale è sempre più eticamente scorretta e intacca davvero gli incassi delle vendite dei musicisti. Ma ci sono anche alcuni lati positivi e va bene vedere che i vinili stiano più che mai facendo ritorno, è davvero confortante! Lasciamo le cose così, per ora!

BMF: Quali sono i tuoi piani nell’immediato e in avvenire? C’è qualche possibilità di vederti in Italia prima o poi?

IHF: Lo spero tanto, mi piace suonare in Italia e  se tutto va bene saremo al Novara Jazzfest di Giugno con i The Young Mothers. A Marzo sono in giro con i The Thing e abbiamo un mucchio di concerti per questo tour del 2018 dopo il mio ritorno a Oppdal in Norvegia, il mio paese natale, dove mi sono esibito con alcuni musicisti folk del luogo per il lancio del mio ultimo album “Village Songs” – una produzione che ho realizzato con alcuni musicisti incredibili basata su inni religiosi della mia città e combinati con il jazz di Austin, è davvero appassionante.
​Ho terminato il 2017 con un soggiorno ad Altbüron in Svizzera insieme a Ignaz Schick, Oliver Steidle e Jan Schlegel, in cui abbiamo lavorato ad alcune improvvisazioni di noise e musica elettronica, usando il mio basso elettrico ed i pedali. A parte questo c’è molto ancora in vista e diversi tour con nuove e vecchie costellazioni che andranno avanti per tutto quest’anno.
​Cercherò di mantenere aggiornato il mio sito web. Potete seguirmi a questo indirizzo: 

www.ingebrigtflaten.com