The second album of Ingebrigt Håker Flaten’s Knarr band is now ready for release on his own label Sonic Transmissions Records. The band that was first put together as a commissioned one-off project for the Vossa Jazz festival in 2021 has now become Håker Flaten’s main outlet as a bandleader and composer.

Clearly something sparked putting the Vossa Jazz project together, and those of us who knew and had followed Håker Flaten for over three decades as a one of the finest musicians working within (and often far beyond) the field of jazz and improvised music could hear that something special has happened. Knarr was clearly the perfect vehicle for Håker Flaten to bring years of experience in music into something special. And, like the best bandleaders it’s not about having great musicians come together in order to make you look good, it’s about creating a space to bring out the best in them, to know which musicians to combine, and to give them a platform to create music that has not been heard before. Judging from the sheer musical joy on “Breezy” there are probably few bands in 2024 as enjoyable to be part of as Knarr.

The personnel has changed slightly from the first album, and now features an impressive international lineup that features Mette Rasmussen (Denmark) on alto sax, Oscar Grönberg (Sweden) on piano, Karl Hjalmar Nyberg (Sweden) on tenor and soprano sax, Erik Kimestad Pedersen (Denmark) on trumpet, Jonathan F. Horne (USA) on guitar, Olaf Moses Olsen (Norway) on drums, and of course Håker Flaten himself on bass. There are also guest appearances by Norwegians Oddrun Lilja Jonsdottir on guitar and Joakim Rainer Petersen on synth. All top-tier musicians and artists themselves at the highest level, this alone should be enough to make adventurous music lovers search out this new recording – and of
course go see them live.

The album is dedicated to the American musician Jaimie Branch, a close friend and collaborator of Håker Flaten who passed away in 2022. Branch and Håler Flaten knew each other from when he first moved to Chicago in 2006, and the two worked together in a number of constellations. Branch’s nickname was Breezy, and as the title of the album (and its ecstatic final track) it’s clear that this dedication is something very personal. But this is no sad lament to a brilliant artist gone too early, “Breezy” is a celebration of what Jaimie Branch represented – exciting new music that dares to take chances, dives into the unknown, and has both great fun and success doing it.