Things we like: Ingebrigt Haker Flaten, Nick Didkovsky

When Ernesto Montiel told me, back in mid-2022, that the Scandinavian quintet Atomic was making an appearance on its farewell tour at the Texas Theatre, my initial response was "Who?" Shame on me. Atomic was the band Norwegian bassist extraordinaire Ingebrigt Haker Flaten formed with his college mates Pal Nilssen-Love and Havard Wiik, joining up with the estimable Swedes Magnus Broo and Fredrik Ljungquist. I knew Ingebrigt primarily as a member of The Thing -- a free-jazz trio with a rock aesthetic (Stooges and Suicide covers on an album with disco chanteuse Nene Cherry!) -- and his collabs with Oak Cliff's Gonzalez family (The Hymn Project with trumpeter-dad Dennis; the jazz/metal/hip-hop hybrid The Young Mothers with drummer/vibist Stefan and a passel of Texas worthies). Recently I caught Ingebrigt in a trio with Stefan and multi-instrumentalist Joe McPhee, and was able to score some CDs from his merch bag that filled some gaps in my knowledge.

Element is the self-titled 1996 debut from a quartet that was Ingebrigt's first band with Nilssen-Love and Wiik, a modal/free-bop vehicle for saxophonist Gisle Johansen. At this point, the musicians were still forging their identities, although drummer Nilssen-Love already had the hallmarks of the irrepressible force of nature he'd be in The Thing, Peter Brotzmann's Hairybones, and elsewhere. Close Erase's Dance This, from 2001, is Something Entahrly Other: a keyboard-bass-drums trio with Ingebrigt on very funky electric bass. The grooves Haker Flaten lays down with keyboardist Kristian Wallumrod and drummer Per Oddvar Johansen touch on both early electric Miles (the Corea-Holland-Dejohnette lineup) and hip-hop (the electronic percussion tracks). A good soundtrack for dancing in your head. 

A couple of Bandcamp Fridays ago, I belatedly picked up on the 2021 self-titled release from (Exit) Knarr, an octet that's a vehicle for Ingebrigt's compositions. The album is the recording of a commissioned autobiographical suite paying tribute to six locations that have been pivotal in the composer's life: from his childhood home in Oppdal, through his formative years in Trondheim, his American homes in Chicago and Austin, and excursions to Mexico City and Amsterdam. The music is rhythmically robust and melodically rich, with instrumentation that boasts three horns (including the fiery altoist Mette Rasmussen and the excellent Atle Nymo on clarinets and tenor), two drummers (and eight handclappers!), electric guitar, and Oscar Gronberg covering both grand piano and electronic keys. Particularly noteworthy are the opening blast of "Miles Ave.," the gorgeous romanticism of "Hakkaran," and the lyrically arcing, yearning "Museumplein," but the whole album stands up to repeated spins. Sounds like a masterpiece to me. 

More recently, Ingebrigt anchored Harvesters, the latest offering from the Rempis Percussion Quartet. Dave Rempis is a Chicago-based saxophonist/composer, a familiar of Ken Vandermark and Mars Williams, and the quartet features him in harness with percussionists Tim Daisy and Frank Rosaly, both of whom are also his regular duet partners. (Rosaly also drums with Ingebrigt in The Young Mothers.) The drummers' dynamic range runs the gamut from mice toes scampering to twin volcanoes erupting a la Elvin and Rashied on Trane's Meditations. Ingebrigt proves himself to be a nonpareil listening improviser, backing Rempis to the hilt from alpha to omega. 

My buddy, guitarist/composer Nick Didkovsky, recently visited Texas from NYC, but we didn't get around to much shoptalk while he was here, so I had to discover via socials that he has a couple of new projects, as well as an upcoming performance of Alice Cooper's Killer album (that's October 26 at Arlene's Grocery in NYC). Seagull Brain is the first-time collaboration between Nick and his fellow guitarists Mark Howell (Timber, Zero Pop) and Chris Cochrane (No Safety, Collapsible Shoulder). The agreeable collision between their dark, harmonic-rich tones and timbres, dueling rhythmic thrusts, and exploratory melodies makes for a mighty satisfying listen, especially for fans of rock-based atonal skree (think Fred Frith, Henry Kaiser, Bill Orcutt, even Beefheart). (CDs available here.)

Also Bandcamp-available are five demos from a guitar duo with Sean Walsh (from the band Skullshitter); a full-length release is planned for next year. These serene miniatures might come as a surprise to listeners familiar with Nick's bands Doctor Nerve and Vomit Fist, or his ongoing CHORD guitar duo with Tom Marsan. In spirit, if not letter, the music puts me in mind of the duets John Abercrombie recorded with Ralph Towner back in the '70s. A tantalizing preview of things to come, and you can name your own price.