Poems for Flute

The jazz flute, then. This slightly shy, rather rare wind instrument in the jazz fauna, which sticks out only here and there. Maybe a saxophonist got an old flute for Christmas and wanted to try something new, or another found interest in folk music and wanted to get down to the roots of her expression. But the pure jazz flutist, one that only belongs to this oldest of the woodwind instruments, yes there it is rather ragged in the ranks.

But there is one that has kept true for a long time. Henriette Eilertsen (b. 1993) was the first in Norway to get a bachelor's degree in jazz flute, at the Norwegian Academy of Music.

Many have noticed that, and many are glad that she did. When Eilertsen now makes her debut with the album Poems for Flute, she fully shows that she has found a direction. Even though she has her flute heroes - like Joe Farrell, Eric Dolphy and Elena Pinderhughes, she stakes out a path on her own when she shows what she wants the jazz flute to be in 2021.

Eilertsen has for years been involved in a handful of bands on the Norwegian jazz scene, including the space jazz band Billy Meier, Andreas Røysum Ensemble and Slow Is The New Fast. In addition, she participated in establishing the active composer’s collective OJKOS.

Poems for Flute consists of short pieces, which Eilertsen thinks of as small musical poems. Some of the songs operate with a clear musical direction, while others have a rather abstract agenda - the album is based on free improvisations. The listener is served the flute in solo format, in duo with both violin and computer, and in a live recording in collaboration with parts of OJKOS.

Henriette Eilertsen has long shown that she has a lot to express, so that she now makes her debut as a soloist is right on. She is a technically brilliant flutist with clear aesthetic visions. She dwells on the edges, whether acoustic or digital, moving from urban to rural spaces and from extremely fast sequences to slow movements. We always hear the whole flute, as when the sound of the flaps has as important a function as the ordinary tones.

With 12 brand new flute poems, we think that this album manages to present the jazz flute in a new and personal way.