Home » Jazz Articles » Album Review » Flukten: Velkommen H?p

Flukten: Velkommen H?p

By Chris May
August 20, 2021
View read count

The first thing that may strike you about Norwegian quartet Flukten's debut album is the sleeve art. This shows a naked man with his back to the camera, limbs spread wide and with something dangling between his legs. It looks like a penis, but smaller.

Flukten (in English the name means The Escape and the album title means Welcome Hope) comprises four of Norway's most distinctive musicians: tenor saxophonist

Hanna Paulsberg

saxophone, tenor

" data-original-title="" title="">Hanna Paulsberg (Hanna Paulsberg Concept, Trondheim Jazz Orchestra), electric guitarist

Marius Hirth Klovning

guitar, electric

" data-original-title="" title="">Marius Hirth Klovning (Moskus, Atomic), double bassist

Bárður Reinert Poulsen

bass

" data-original-title="" title="">B��r?ur Reinert Poulsen (Skakedyr) and drummer Hans Hulbækmo (Hanna Paulsberg Concept, Espen Berg Trio).

Stylistically, Flukten inhabits a similar bag as Britain's

Partisans

band / ensemble / orchestra
b.1996

" data-original-title="" title="">Partisans quartet. The lineup is the same—saxophone, electric guitar, acoustic bass, drums —and the music, though ultimately beyond category, can, like that of Partisans, be described approximately as jazz rock played with a jazz rather than rock sensibility. Flukten differs from Partisans in being looser and less intense, and by favouring spontaneity and group interaction over through composition and tricky arrangements.

Flukten's USP is its playfulness. The same quality distinguishes Hanna Paulsberg Concept, whose most recent album, the highly recommended Daughter Of The Sun (Odin, 2018), though dealing with some serious issues, never takes itself too seriously; a playful mood is established early on and is maintained even as the group pay tribute to the Ancient Egyptian pharoah Hatsheput and all other women who, as Paulsberg put it in the liner note, "have had to fight harder for recognition because of their gender." Having a woman in the lineup seems to encourage playfulness in jazz and it is noteworthy that another tenor saxophonist,

Ingrid Laubrock

saxophone
b.1970

" data-original-title="" title="">Ingrid Laubrock, though capable of being as cerebral as Albert Einstein, can bring an infectiously childlike sense of fun to her playing when she is in the mood.

Most of the tunes on Velkommen H?p were written by Hulb?kmo, with two others from Klovning, one from Paulsberg and one group collaboration. There are two ballads, one piece of out-of-time free improv, and the remaining seven tracks are motor rhythm-anchored essays in jazz rock with the emphasis on jazz. It is all big fun.

Learn more about our star rating system

Track Listing

Velkommen H?p; Budeie Boogie; Framsyning; Barneblues; Mellomspill; Jonas Og Hvalen; Tennis Med Torstein; Bleik Myrk Legg; Pave Toten Totten; Blomstrene.

Personnel

Hanna Paulsberg

saxophone, tenor

Marius Hirth Klovning

guitar, electric

B��r?ur Reinert Poulsen

bass

Hans Hulbaekmo

drums

Album information

Title: Velkommen H?p | Year Released: 2021 | Record Label: Odin Records

PREVIOUS / NEXT

Y-Otis at Raahe's Festival by the Be...
< Previous

John McLaughlin, Return To Forever, ...
Next >

Support All About Jazz

All About Jazz has been a pillar of jazz since 1995, championing it as an art form and, more importantly, supporting the musicians who make it. Our enduring commitment has made "AAJ" one of the most culturally important websites of its kind, read by hundreds of thousands of fans, musicians and industry figures every month.

Go Ad Free!

To maintain our platform while developing new means to foster jazz discovery and connectivity, we need your help. You can become a sustaining member for as little as $20 and in return, we'll immediately hide those pesky ads plus provide access to future articles for a full year. This winning combination vastly improves your AAJ experience and allow us to vigorously build on the pioneering work we first started in 1995. So enjoy an ad-free AAJ experience and help us remain a positive beacon for jazz by making a donation today.