Chiaroscuro is the follow-up to Norwegian trumpeter Arve Henriksen's fantastic debut album, 2001's much acclaimed Sakuteiki (Rune Grammofon).

This time Henriksen is joined by drummer Audun Kleive and sound artist Jan Bang to create some beautiful musical soundscapes where the trumpet is the natural point of focus. There's also more room for Arve's wordless singing, used to stunning effect with Supersilent.

As with Sakuteiki, Chiaroscuro is recorded on location in Norway, but this time in concert situations. The final selections have been chosen by Arve himself and treated and mixed by Bang and Erik Honoré. The album's title comes, of course, from the Italian word meaning light and shade, referring to the technique of using these elements to achieve an illusion of depth in two-dimensional works of art and later in moving pictures, referenced in the titles of the individual tracks on the album.

Henriksen is without doubt one of Norway's leading instrumentalists, a master of the trumpet. He is also a searching musician, whose investigations have led him to Japanese music, Balinese sounds, Mongolian overtone singing, Sidsel Endresen's vocal sounds, electronics and instruments such as the koto, the biwa and the shakuhachi. The tonal quality of the shakuhachi flute in particular has long been an inspiration for him, giving him a sense of direction in the development of his own sound.

Born in 1968, Arve Henriksen studied at the Trondheim Conservatory from 1987-1991, and has worked as a freelance musician since 1989. He has worked with a wide range of musicians including Jon Balke, Anders Jormin, Stian Carstensen, Trygve Seim, Edward Vesala, Jon Christensen, Marilyn Mazur, Marilyn Crispell, Nils Petter Molvær, Terje Isungset, Misha Alperin and Marc Ducret to mention just a few. He has played in a very broad span of contexts, ranging from work with koto player Satsuki Odamura to rock band Motorpsycho via jazzpop singer Silje Nergaard and numerous free improvising groups. He is a founder member of free music group Supersilent, the Christian Wallumrød Ensemble and a member of Food.

Arve is also the first beneficiary of “Norwegian Jazz Launch Europe 2004-06", a funding project to further develop the positive reputation of Norwegian jazz.