Progressive Jazz rockers Krokofant join the Is It Jazz? Records roster.

Consisting of Tom Hasslan on Guitar, Jørgen Mathisen on Saxophone and Axel Skalstad on Drums, KROKOFANT was founded in Kongsberg, Norway, in 2011 when Hasslan and Skalstad, both of whom are now also members of SOFT FFOG and who both happen to be past winners of the Kongsberg Jazzfestival Recruitment Scholarship, met in a local record store.

One year later they were joined by Mathisen, a noted saxophonist known for his work with bands such as SHAGMA, THE CORE, ZANUSSI FIVE and HUMVEE, and together they performed an impressive debut set at the Kongsberg Jazz Festival.  

Playing a free jazz style with precise and heavy riffs that are redeemed by jarring and strong improvisations, KROKOFANT’s wild saxophone solos are teamed with hugely creative, virtuoso guitar playing, and drumming that sounds like a turbocharged hybrid of Keith Moon and Elvin Jones .

They were later joined by two guest members, Ståle Storløkken (ELEPHANT9, SUPERSILENT) on keys and Ingebrigt Håker Flaten (ATOMIC) on bass, forming what is quite possibly one of the most “prog” ensembles amongst Norway’s Prog Jazz Rock bands.

KROKOFANT went on to release several full length albums that garnered much praise and won the band a considerable fan base.

Musically KROKOFANT demonstrates  a rare melodic flair, conjuring up one catchy phrase after another. Combine this with lengthy improvisations, and you have a band that will satisfy the jazz hats of the toughest hard rockers. And it is this sound that KROKOFANT will bring to Is it Jazz? Records, when the band’s sixth full-length album will be released. A prospect that KROKOFANT are very enthusiastic about:

Krokofant is super excited with signing on the Is It Jazz? Records label, and are really looking forward to the collaboration. Krokofant is buckling up in the spacecraft and getting ready for takeoff to the eternal cosmos!

For those who are curious about the name “KROKOFANT”, it is the name of a mythical creature featured in a popular Norwegian children’s song – a cross between an elephant and a crocodile, “a lumbering trumpeting beast with a fearsome array of teeth in its snapping jaws…”

More information about KROKOFANT can be found on the band’s Facebook page at facebook.com/krokofantmusic