Cartography

The excellent Norwegian trumpeter Arve Henriksen has brought his shakuhachi-influenced playing to a number of musical settings. His breathy, buzzy tone — inspired by the Japanese flute — has an ethereal quality, and on Cartography he works with a number of sensitive collaborators to create a work of mystery and nuance. The album shares similarities with the ambient music of American trumpeter and composer Jon Hassell, thanks in part to the presence of programmer Jan Bang and synth player Erik Honoré. (Bang also appeared on Hassell’s Last Night the Moon Came Dropping Its Clothes in the Street.) British experimental pop artist David Sylvian contributes texts and spoken word performances to “Before and Afterlife” and “Thermal.” The spare and spacious “Famine’s Ghost” finds vocalist Ana Maria Friman intoning parts of “Anima Mea,” a text by William Brooks. A sample of the female vocal outfit Trio Mediaeval is put to effective use on “Recording Angel,” which also features the singing of Vérène Andronikof. The elegiac “Sorrow and Its Opposite” touchingly closes the album.