Arve Henriksen

Arve Henriksen trained in classical music before developing an otherworldly, Japan-inflected approach to the trumpet that set him apart from his peers. Echoing the path of forerunner Jon Hassell, he blends multiple embouchures with electronic atmospheres and ambient textures, shaping a sound at once warm, ethereal, and harmonically rich that mirrors both landscapes and consecrated environments. His primary outlets remain Rune Grammofon and ECM, while his foundational role in the improv-experimental ensemble Supersilent places him alongside Helge Sten as producer and sound artist, Ståle Storløkken on synthesizers, and Jarle Vespestad on drums.

Whether joining forces with Sinikka Langeland, Tigran Hamasyan, Trio Mediaeval, or Eivind Aarset, Henriksen preserves his distinctive sonic identity yet adapts fluidly to support differing musical directions. Working instinctively on solo projects, he enlisted electronicists Jan Bang and Erik Honoré for the influential Chiaroscuro; his 2013 release Places of Worship fused improvisation, structured composition, and environmental elements to evoke sacred sites worldwide, and the 2017 album Towards Language, again with Aarset, Bang, and Honoré, explored notions of communication before language emerged. The 2019 box set Timeless Nowhere gathered four discs; only Towards Language had circulated digitally before, while Acousmograph, Captured Under Mountainsides, and Cryosphere remained unreleased until then, having been captured during the 2010s. Additional partnerships yielded Neuzeit with electronic composer J. Peter Schwalm in 2020 and Touch of Time with pianist Harmen Fraanje in 2024.

Born in Stranda, Norway, Henriksen studied at the Trondheim Conservatory, where a friend’s tape of the shakuhachi flute left him transfixed. “I let the music ‘ring’ and develop in my head,” he said. “I was astonished by the sound of this flute.” That encounter with minimalist Japanese traditions reshaped both his trumpet technique and his artistic trajectory.

Earlier collaborations with Anders Jormin, Edward Vesala, and the Source preceded his debut solo album Sakuteiki in 2001. He continues to serve as trumpeter for the improvisational groups Supersilent and Food, the latter featuring Thomas Strønen, Iain Ballamy, and Mats Eilertsen, whose first recording, Veggie, appeared in 2002. Subsequent releases include the widely praised Chiaroscuro of 2004, Strjon in 2007, and his ECM debut Cartography in 2009. He has also contributed to projects by the Christian Wallumrød Ensemble, Arild Andersen, Jon Balke, the Sinikka Langeland Ensemble, and David Sylvian.

A 2012 duet with drummer Teun Verbruggen produced Black Swan; that same year the vinyl-only Solidification box set compiled his first three albums with bonus material and introduced the new recording Chron. Issued entirely solo in 2013, Places of Worship earned broad acclaim. Strong sales of Solidification prompted requests for Chron as a standalone title, leading Henriksen and Rune Grammofon to issue it in February 2014 as the double package Chron + Cosmic Creation. Later that autumn The Nature of Connections arrived, drawing closer to contemporary chamber music and Northern European folk traditions than earlier work; nearly all compositions originated with his collaborators Nils Økland and Gjermund Larsen on violin, cellist Svante Henryson, double bassist Mats Eilertsen, and drummer Audun Kleive.

Subsequent years found Henriksen active primarily as a sideman on Gjertrud Lunde’s Hjemklang (2014), Sinikka Langeland’s The Magical Forest and Tigran Hamasyan’s Atmospheres (both ECM, 2016), the Mengi release Saumur with Hilmar Jensson and Skúli Sverrisson, and the self-released duo Eg Gjekk Ned Til Denne Fjorden with Kjartan Hatløy. February 2017 brought the ECM album Rimur with Trio Mediaeval, comprising seventeen chants, hymns, folk songs, and improvisations drawn from ancient Icelandic, Norwegian, and Swedish sources. June saw his eighth Rune Grammofon solo album and ninth overall, Towards Language, performed on trumpets, electronics, and voices with Honoré, Bang, and Aarset. That year also yielded the digital-only The Art of Irrigation with drummer Terje Isungset. Returning to Rune Grammofon in 2018 with The Height of Reeds, Henriksen commemorated the historic maritime ties between Hull, England, and Scandinavia; the score, created with Aarset and Bang, accompanied a sound-walk across the Humber Bridge—the world’s longest walkable single-span suspension bridge—whose run extended from one month to three because of public demand. Jez Riley French supplied field recordings of water, ships, industry, and trucks, while the Opera North choir and orchestra framed the soloists and two Hull actors plus a seven-year-old girl recited Norwegian poet Nils Christian Moe-Repstad’s poems in translations arranged by Aleksander Waaktar. Supersilent also released the album 14.

Further 2019 projects included Pilgrim with Janne Mark on ACT, the self-released sextet Composograph: A Synthesis of Wood, Metal and Electronics featuring Eilertsen and Økland, and Illusion of a Separate World with Slovakian guitarist, film composer, and sound designer David Kollar, whose associates include Steven Wilson, Pat Mastelotto, and Fennesz.

The four-disc The Timeless Nowhere appeared on Rune Grammofon in autumn 2019, containing forty-two tracks across four albums. Towards Language had previously existed only as a stream or download; the remaining three—Acousmograph, Captured Under Mountainsides, and Cryosphere—presented fresh and previously unissued 2010s material assembled by Henriksen. December 2020 marked his first collaboration with J. Peter Schwalm on Neuzeit for RareNoise Records. The following year Henriksen and Spanish drummer Jorge Rossy shared billing on Jakob Bro’s fifth ECM album, Uma Elmo. In 2024 he paired again with pianist Harmen Fraanje for the duo recording Touch of Time.