Rune Kristoffersen: "Records like that open up a can of worms about what ‘free jazz’ really is"
Spencer Grady
Wednesday, February 26, 2020
Internationally acclaimed Norwegian record label Rune Grammofon announced itself to the world in 1998, with the release of Supersilent’s auspicious triple-album offering, 1-3. Since then, the imprint has curated a prestigious canon of experimental jazz, free improvisation, abstract electronic music and psychedelic rock, with celebrated releases from artists including Fire!, Arve Henriksen, Elephant9, Bushman’s Revenge, Hedvig Mollestad Trio, Maja S.K. Ratkje and Krokofant. Jazzwise caught up with the imprint’s head honcho, Rune Kristoffersen, to get the gen on a couple of his formative jazz-listening moments.
Favourite Album
“I’m not sure whether it’s my all-time favourite because, as we know, our favourite records change all the time, but Spontaneous Music Ensemble’s Karyōbin is certainly a very strong candidate for my free-jazz desert island album.
I came to free-jazz quite late in my life, and this was probably my first encounter with the genre that wasn’t in the shape of a full-frontal blast. This was a revelation in itself. It’s definitely an early milestone when it comes to European free music. At times one can even mistake it for being comprised of very complex compositions, which says a lot about the brilliance of John Stevens and the other musicians involved, and their ability to listen to each other and only contribute when it’s for the greater good of the music. It is no coincidence that these players all went on to have great artistic careers.
I’ve been listening to the album again recently and it sounds better than ever! Now it needs a proper reissue on vinyl. My original pressing on Island has certainly seen better days.
There are other ‘free-jazz’ records released around the same period that are also right up there for me, such as Jan Garbarek’s Afric Pepperbird, featuring his quartet with Terje Rypdal, Arild Andersen and the recently departed Jon Christensen. But a record like that really does open up a whole can of worms about what ‘free jazz’ really is – I mean, can it really be free jazz if there are specific composer credits. Maybe Afric Pepperbird can’t be considered free jazz in the strictest sense, but it’s still a wonderful record."
Live Performance
"But Rune Grammofon was already up-and-running when Karyōbin first came to my attention. It was a live performance, by Veslefrekk at the Purcell Room in London in 1996, that really opened my ears to a more hushed and reflective type of playing. Seeing this trio, featuring Arve Henriksen, Ståle Storløkken and Jarle Vespestad, would be a key event in the founding of the label. Soon after learning that the members of Veslefrekk would be starting a new group with the master of dark ambient, Helge Sten (aka Deathprod), it seemed like an extremely exciting prospect. This band would become Supersilent and I would go on to release their monumental 1-3 on my newly formed label."