selected recordings
Spaces Unfolding - The Way We Speak (Bead Records)
Neil Metcalfe - flute
Philipp Wachsmann - violin
Emil Karlsen - drums
“One of the finest documents of how improvisation is made that this listener has heard (…)” George Grella, New York City Jazz Record
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John Butcher / Dominic Lash / Emil Karlsen - Here and How (Bead Records)
John Butcher - saxophones
Dominic Lash - double bass
Emil Karlsen - drums
"A master class in closely attentive group playing” Julian Cowley, The Wire
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light.box + Emil Karlsen - The Undanced Dance (Bead Records)
Alex Bonney - trumpet/electronics
Pierre Alexandre Tremblay - bass guitar/electronics
+
Emil Karlsen - drums
“Its shadowy ambience proposes hidden secrets which reveal themselves as your rewards for close, attentive listening ” - Ken Cheetham, Jazzviews
Mark Sanders / Emil Karlsen - Muted Language (Bead Records)
Mark Sanders - drum kit
Emil Karlsen - drum kit
“Brilliant drumming by two fearless artisans; hearing, resounding the real world around us. Truth is in our ears.” Chris Searle, The Morningstar
Tern - In Air (Bead Records/FMR)
Philipp Wachsmann - violin/electronics
Martin Hackett - Korg MS10
Emil Karlsen - drums
"Tern’s instrumental emancipation looks to raise the bar for subsequent 21st-century improvisation going forward." - Darren Bergstein (DMG)
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Full discography
2024
John Edwards / Emil Karlsen / Dominic Lash - ACTION THEORY (Spoonhunt) 03/05/24
2023
The Exu (James Mainwaring / Dave Kane / Emil Karlsen - THAT’LL DO IT! (single) (Lamplight Social Records) 8/09/23
John Butcher / Dominic Lash / Emil Karlsen - HERE AND HOW (Bead Records) 16/07/23
Emil Karlsen / Anthony J. Stillabower - // (self-release) 6/07/23
Mark Sanders / Emil Karlsen - MUTED LANGUAGE (Bead Records) 23/04/23
light.box + Emil Karlsen - THE UNDANCED DANCE (Bead Records) 10/02/23
2022
Spaces Unfolding - THE WAY WE SPEAK (Bead Records) 10/11/22
Tern (Wachsmann/Hackett/Karlsen) - IN AIR (Bead Records/FMR) 05/07/22
Matthew Bourne / Emil Karlsen - THE EMBALMER (Relative Pitch Records) 04/03/22
2021
Adrian Northover / John Edwards / Emil Karlsen - HORSE BOX 2 (Shrike) 14/09/21
Ed Jones / Emil Karlsen - FROM WHERE LIGHT FALLS (FMR) 17/06/21
2020
Phil Durrant / Emil Karlsen - GRAIN (noumenon) 04/03/20
Tom Ward / Emil Karlsen - CONCRESCENCE (madwort) 12/02/20
Martin Clarke / Otto Willberg / Emil Karlsen - SHOPPING FOR IMAGES - (OEM) 10/01/20
2019
Mark Hanslip / Emil Karlsen - PLANISH - (noumenon) 16/09/19
Catch 22 - MODERN MACHINERY - (noumenon) 04/02/19
Emil Karlsen - FLUX - (noumenon) 11/01/19