Marius Neset with Trondheim Jazz Orchestra – Lion (2014) [Official Digital Download 24bit/48kHz]

Marius Neset with Trondheim Jazz Orchestra – Lion (2014)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/48 kHz | Time – 01:04:06 minutes | 733 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © ACT Music

The 29-year-old internationally acclaimed Norwegian saxophonist-composer Marius Neset takes another bold step forward into the art of contemporary extended ensemble writing on his debut recording Lion for ACT. It’s a collaboration with the renowned Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, a project-based collective that since its formation in 1999 has toured Norway with stellar musicians that include Chick Corea, Pat Metheny and Joshua Redman.

As well as imagining something of the haunting silences and epic space of the Norwegian landscape that Neset was surrounded by when growing up, Neset’s contrasting rock-charged urban grooves and intense cross rhythms perhaps reflect something about his city to city touring schedule. “It’s a very hectic life in that way. I find the way I’m living affecting how I play,” he has said. These apparent conflicting living spaces might be traceable on the title track of the CD Birds in which an ecstatically folky accordion theme morphs into chattering Stravinsky-ish motor rhythms.

It’s essential to look at Neset’s background to discover the diverse array of music that makes up his uncategorizable musical DNA. He was raised in Bergen, a sleepy west coast Norwegian harbour town. But, as well, a key musical hub in a progressive Nordic tradition. He would grow up listening to bands from the Bergen post-rock wave of the 1990s that included Royksopp, through to the UK’s Radiohead, as well as music in the classical tradition including the Bergen-born Norwegian folk-influenced great composer Edvard Grieg while others such as Igor Stravinsky would be important too. Add to that a few major sax role models along the way such as Jan Garbarek, Michael Brecker and Chris Potter, muscularly innovative titans of the tenor and soprano from both European and American jazz. Arriving on the international scene with a youthful fire and charisma, his inventively virtuosic sax playing was made for front-of-stage. He seemed to be reclaiming the horn’s traditional position as the king of all post-bop jazz instruments. But against this background, Neset also very quickly established his own identity as a visionary composer, and his originals have become increasingly difficult to separate from his sax playing. “I’m very inspired by people like Frank Zappa, Django Bates, Pat Metheny and Wayne Shorter where the music and the playing is one,” he has said. The new recording has a more organic interaction between sax improv and ensemble interaction than on any previous albums.

Tracklist:
1. Marius Neset & Trondheim Jazz Orchestra – Lion (10:17)
2. Marius Neset & Trondheim Jazz Orchestra – Golden Xplosion (07:30)
3. Marius Neset & Trondheim Jazz Orchestra – In the Ring (07:31)
4. Marius Neset & Trondheim Jazz Orchestra – Interlude (00:54)
5. Marius Neset & Trondheim Jazz Orchestra – Sacred Universe (10:10)
6. Marius Neset & Trondheim Jazz Orchestra – Weight of the World (07:56)
7. Marius Neset & Trondheim Jazz Orchestra – Raining (08:16)
8. Marius Neset & Trondheim Jazz Orchestra – Birds (11:29)

Personnel:
Marius Neset, tenor and soprano saxophone
Hanna Paulsberg, tenor saxophone
Peter Fuglsang, alto saxophone, flute and clarinet
Eirik Hegdal, baritone and soprano saxophone
Eivind Lønning, trumpet
Erik Eilertsen, trumpet
Erik Johannesen, trombone
Daniel Herskedal, tuba
Jovan Pavlovic, accordion
Espen Berg, piano
Petter Eldh, bass
Gard Nilssen, drums, percussion
Ingrid Neset, flute and piccolo flute (on tracks 5 and 8)

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