"This is Flaten the composer, bandleader and logistics manager. His job is to write music that gives maximum room for this new group of musicians and this live document, once more from Belle Ville, shows Flaten acquitting himself nicely. Europe had its own fusion scene back in the 1970s and The Year of the Boar is a fine update to that tradition."

Andrey Henkin/All About Jazz-NY

"Håker Flaten's music is excellent, and he manages to present the band's skills in many styles of jazz, from strong bop to electronics, with elements of fusion, rock (listen to Parker's bluesy solo in the last track) and free improv, offering a patchwork of nice musical explorations."

Stef/www.freejazz-stef.blogspot.com

"Bassist Ingebrigt Haker Flaten shows off his Chicago connection here -- in a great live set that features work from Jeff Parker on guitar and Dave Rempis on saxes! There's some definite Chicago energy going on here -- the sort of genre-leaping jazz that has made the city's jazz scene a key global influence over the past decade or so -- and a great foil for Flaten's already open-minded music! Ingebrit plays a bit of electronics in addition to his bass -- and other players include Ola Kvernberg on violin and Frank Rosaly on drums and additional electronics -- all in a mode that's quite fierce and free at times, and somewhat more contemplative at others."

www.dustygroove.com

A whole lotta Haaker Flaten going on

Powerful Norwegian bassist Ingebrigt Haaker Flaten spent a little more than two years living in Chicago, from January 2006 to spring 2008, and when he wasn’t on the road–which was most of the time–he fit in well. That is, he played steadily in all kinds of groups, some of them working bands and others one-off ad hoc lineups. Haaker Flaten went back to Oslo after the romantic relationship that brought him to town ended, but his musical relationship with Chicago had started long before he moved here and continues to this day. Tomorrow he returns for the first of a slew of gigs that run through Sunday. Since his departure Haaker Flaten has released music pretty steadily, beginning with The Year of the Boar (Jazzland), from the quintet he formed with Chicagoans Jeff Parker, Frank Rosaly, and Dave Rempis–the fifth member, violinist Ola Kvernberg, was a holdover from the Oslo version of the group. Cut live during a European tour in 2007, it makes clear that Haaker Flaten shares a key quality with his Chicago counterparts–driving, insatiable energy. His compositions are typically packed with two or three discrete episodes, and most of the time he opts for muscular passages that stomp rather than swing–though his occasional explorations of space and calm, like a bit in "90/94″ where Parker toys with texture and color, are satisfying too............."  Peter Margasak/Chicago Reader