Kings Place is proud to present the debut London performance of Norwegian trumpeter Arve Henriksen and Dutch pianist Harmen Fraanje, following the release of their impeccable duo album Touch of Time on ECM Records.

Initiated in light of ECM’s 50th anniversary celebrations at the 2019 Transition Festival in Utrecht, Netherlands, where the duo first met and performed a captivating improvised set, the collaboration between Harmen and Arve has since morphed into a fruitful partnership, where the players are able to riff off each other’s ideas seamlessly and in-the-moment.

According to the duo: “We consider Touch of Time to be exactly where we meet in music. Although there are solid structures within these pieces, we form the material very freely, as a holistic process, rather than a static approach borne from preconception.” The music was shaped together with ECM founder Manfred Eicher, who produced the album, recorded at the Auditorio Stelio Molo in Lugano in early 2023.

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Harmen Fraanje, born in Roosendaal, Netherlands in 1976, has appeared on ECM as part of Mats Eilertsen’s Rubicon band as well as the bassist’s trio recording And then Comes The Night. Besides his participation in Eilertsen’s groups, Fraanje is part of the trio Reijseger Fraanje Sylla and since 2019 frequently collaborates with Arve Henriksen.

Arve Henriksen was born in Stranda, Norway in 1968 and began playing and recording internationally in 1989. He first recorded for ECM with Christian Wallumrød trio on No Birch (1998) and has since regularly appeared on the label as both sideman and leader, including on albums by Tigran Hamsyan, Jon Balke, Trygve Seim, Arild Andersen, Sinikka Langeland and Frode Hailti. Down Beat called his ECM leader-date Cartography (2010) “ethereal ambient music created with a painterly touch and marked by a fine melodic sensibility”. Most recently, Henriksen could be heard alongside Jakob Bro and Jorge Rossy on Uma Elmo (2022).