Håkon Kornstad
Håkon Kornstad at stage in 2018
Håkon Kornstad at stage in 2018
Background information
Birth nameHåkon Ganes Kornstad
Born (1977-04-05) 5 April 1977
Oslo, Norway
OriginNorwegian
GenresJazz, opera
Occupation(s)Musician and composer
Instrument(s)Vocals tenor, tenor saxophone, bass saxophone, flute, live looping
LabelsJazzland Recordings, Smalltown Supersound
Websitewww.kornstad.com

Håkon Games Kornstad (born 5 April 1977 in Oslo, Norway) is a Norwegian jazz musician (tenor saxophone, bass saxophone, flute and live looping) and classically trained singer (tenor), known from bands such as Wibutee and Kornstad Trio, and collaborations with musicians such as Ketil Bjørnstad, Anja Garbarek, Live Maria Roggen, Bugge Wesseltoft, Sidsel Endresen, Paal Nilssen-Love, Mats Eilertsen, Knut Reiersrud, Jon Christensen, Eivind Aarset, and Pat Metheny.[1]

Career

Kornstad in 2010
Kornstad's Tenor Battle in Vangskyrkja at the 2016 Vossajazz.

Kornstad was educated in the Jazz Program at Trondheim Musikkonservatorium. During his studies he founded the jazz trio Triangle, together with Per Zanussi (bass) and Wetle Holte (drums). Later, Erlend Skomsvoll (piano) and Live Maria Roggen (vocals) joined the band, and this lineup evolved to become the band Wibutee (1998). He also put together the Håkon Kornstad Trio with Paal Nilssen-Love and Mats Eilertsen (1998–2003). Kornstad's collaboration with Håvard Wiik was manifested in two albums of duo recordings in 2001. He was involved with the free improvisation bands Tri-Dim and No Spaghetti Edition, and started the band Atomic in 2000. Kornstad has also been part of the bands of Bugge Wesseltoft (1999–2003), Anja Garbarek (2006–), and Sidsel Endresen (2008–).[1]

Since 2003 Kornstad has focused on his solo projects, in which he plays acoustic saxophones along with electronics in an improvised setting, usually giving solo performances. These have also featured guest appearances from Knut Reiersrud, Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, Jon Christensen and beatboxer Julian Sommerfelt. In addition to saxophones and electronics, Kornstad plays something he calls the "flutonett", which is a flute coupled with a clarinet mouthpiece.[1][2]

During a stay in New York in 2009 Kornstad became interested in opera, and began taking singing lessons with teachers there. From the autumn of 2011 he has been a student at Operahøgskolen (KHiO), and debuted as a tenor singer in Den Norske Opera in February 2012 as Il Podesta in a student production of the Mozart opera La finta giardiniera. In 2011 he was nominated for the Spellemannprisen, in the category of This Year's Jazz Record, for Symphonies in My Head (Jazzland, 2011). He then presented his new project, Tenor Battle, combining opera and jazz, at the International Jazz Festival Nattjazz in Bergen. The new band could best be described as a sort of updated salon orchestra, inspired by the LP era, where jazz standards coexist with opera arias and ballads are followed by improvisations in the known Kornstad style. Kornstad is known as one of the premier Norwegian saxophonists, with a tone so hot that one can be melted freely, his voice has the same impact.[3]

Honors

  • 2002: Kongsberg Jazz Award, within the Håkon Kornstad Trio
  • 2012: Enlisted as "Talent deserving further recognition" on tenor saxophone in Down Beat's annual critics poll
  • 2014: Guinness Jazz in Europe Award[4]
  • 2015: Buddyprisen[5]

Discography

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Håkon Kornstad.
  1. 1 2 3 "Kornstad, Håkon Biography – Norsk musikkinformasjon MIC.no". Archived from the original on 21 February 2014.
  2. ↑ "Ingebrigt Håker Flaten / Håkon Kornstad". Archived from the original on 21 March 2018. Retrieved 8 October 2012. |publisher=Gubemusic.no
  3. ↑ "Håkon Kornstad Tenor Battle (N)". Archived from the original on 6 August 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2012. Nattjazz.no
  4. ↑ "Evening Echo — 37th Guinness Jazz Festival one of the most successful in years". Archived from the original on 31 October 2014. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
  5. ↑ Bauer, Camilla Slaattun (4 March 2016). "Håkon Kornstad hedret med Buddy-prisen" (in Norwegian). Retrieved 6 March 2016.
  6. ↑ "Dwell Time – Håkon Kornstad". AllAboutJazz.com. 10 January 2010.
  7. ↑ "Symphonies in my Head – Håkon Kornstad". Jazzlandrec.com. Archived from the original on 1 September 2012. Retrieved 8 October 2012.
  8. 1 2 3 "Håkon Kornstad". SofaMusic.no. Archived from the original on 20 February 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
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