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Review

Marius Neset

Pinball

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by Ian Mann

March 31, 2015

/ ALBUM

An exhilarating blend of audacious compositional imagination and virtuoso musicianship. "Pinball" might just be Marius Neset's best album yet.

Marius Neset

“Pinball”

(ACT Music & Vision, ACT 9032-2)

The Norwegian saxophonist and composer Marius Neset announced himself to the jazz world at large in 2011 with the album “Golden Xplosion”, his incendiary début for the UK based Edition record label. The even more ambitious “Birds” appeared in 2013, again to ecstatic critical and audience acclaim, and in 2014 Neset moved to the Munich based ACT label and released “Lion”, a recording that teamed him with the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra on a programme of pieces originally commissioned for the 2012 Molde Jazz Festival. “Lion” revealed that Neset had no difficulty in writing for a larger ensemble and helped to confirm his status as one of Europe’s premier young jazz talents, both as an instrumentalist and as a composer.

Neset’s exciting live performances have endeared him to UK jazz audiences and he has appeared frequently on these shores, touring extensively and also making festival appearances at venues such as Cheltenham and Brecon. His British connections have meant that London based musicians have frequently appeared in his bands, thereby enhancing the reputation of the UK scene with European jazz audiences.

For his latest album release Neset has reverted to the small group format and the record features a core quintet featuring the British musicians Ivo Neame (piano, keyboards) and Jim Hart (vibes and marimba) plus Danish bassist Petter Eldh and Neame’s Phronesis colleague Anton Eger at the drums. A number of guest musicians occasionally enhance the core ensemble, among them cellist Andreas Brantelid, violinist Rune Tonsgaard Sorensen and Neset’s sister Ingrid on flute.

Born in Bergen Neset’s musical influences are numerous ranging from classical to jazz to Norwegian folk music, the latter absorbed almost by osmosis through the music of fellow Bergen native Edvard Grieg (1843-1907). A highly informative interview with Neset conducted by the music journalist Ivan Hewett appeared in the March 18th 2015 edition of the Daily Telegraph in which the saxophonist’s music and range of influences are discussed at length, “I don’t mean to sound Norwegian” he tells Hewett.
And in many ways he doesn’t, Neset eschews the archetypal cool Nordic sound typified Jan Garbarek and instead cites Charlie Parker, Joe Henderson, Chris Potter and particularly Michael Brecker as his key influences on the saxophone. Neset is a player with technique and stamina to burn but he’s also an interesting and innovative composer with a busy, eventful writing style that has been influenced by composers such as Django Bates, Frank Zappa, Wayne Shorter and Joe Zawinul as well as classical figures like Bartok, Bach and Stravinsky. His music is dense, intense, sometimes challenging but always exciting and literally bursting with ideas. However Neset does have a gentler side as his exquisite duo recording “Neck Of The Woods” made for Edition with tuba player Daniel Herskedal has revealed. And lest we forget Garbarek started out as a fiery, angry sounding saxophonist in the style of John Coltrane so who knows what the future may hold. 

The motion and restless energy suggested by the word “Pinball” ensures that it is a very appropriate album title. Although Neset places an emphasis on strong melody the harmonies and rhythms are still complex and he gives his musicians plenty to get their teeth into beginning with the two part “World Song” which opens with the increasingly complicated hand clapping of the “Pinball Band”  that forms the backbone for the subsequent tenor sax explorations by Neset and the tightly knit layering and interlocking of instruments including the cello, violin and flute of the guests. This is complex but exhilarating music that brings so many of the influences mentioned above to the fore with elements of jazz, classical and folk music all making themselves heard. Neset’s own playing is a tour de force with some powerful, technically dazzling soloing.
A coda of pizzicato strings (which briefly references ‘Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star’) acts as a kind of bridge into the gentler “World Song Part 2” with its rich cello sonorities plus Hart’s flowing vibes solo. Neset himself adopts a warm, round tone before the two pieces come full circle with the percolating rhythms of Hart’s tuned percussion and the returning hand-claps of the “Pinball Band”. This dense rhythmic layering has been influenced by musicians such as Trilok Gurtu and Hermeto Pascoal who have been at the forefront of the blurring of the boundaries between jazz and various types of “World Music”.

The title track seems to take the random rhythms of a pinball machine and construct a quirky, infectious tune from them. The playing is joyful but precise but still offers room for the soloists to stretch out, as epitomised by Neame’s wonderfully inventive piano solo as Neset’s sax darts hither and thither and the busy rhythms clatter around him. This is followed by a more reflective folk tinged episode, a brief pause for breath before the group let rip once more with the leader’s saxophone to the fore.

“Odes of You” is jointly credited to Neset and Eger, an unexpectedly tender ballad featuring smouldering tenor sax and a sparse, hip hop inspired bass and drum groove. Neame adds lyrical piano and almost subliminal Hammond. It’s a moving, if unexpected oasis of calm amidst the usual hustle and bustle of a Marius Neset album.

“Police” marks a return to the busy style of earlier tracks with Ingrid Neset’s flute dancing and snaking around attractively in the early stages of the tune. There’s then a vigorous workout in saxophone trio style before piano and vibes take over with Hart the lead voice in a four way conversation featuring bass and drums. Ingrid’s flute returns for a final statement of the dizzying theme.

“Music for Cello and Saxophone” is another joint credit to Neset and Eger and features the haunting combination of the leader’s tenor with the sonorous bowing of Brantelid on cello. It represents another oasis, despite the fact that Neset’s playing becomes quite impassioned on occasion.

The piece segues almost immediately into “Theatre of Magic”, another Neset/Eger composition with folk like themes, skittering grooves, turn on a dime changes of pace and a bustling complexity. The distinctive hand clapping returns, and various instruments swim in and out of focus to assume the lead but it’s Neset’s virtuoso saxophone playing that remains at the heart of the music, particularly his dazzling playing on soprano.

It’s possible that many of Neset’s fans won’t appreciate that the title of “Aberhonddu” is actually Welsh for Brecon. For those of us who have loved the town and its Jazz Festival for many years it’s a delight to see it being honoured in this way. Eger has performed in Brecon on numerous occasions with Phronesis and this is a co-write so I assume that the idea for the title came from him. The tune itself is lovely, a kind of miniature three and a half minute tone poem featuring sparse but expressive saxophone motifs over a backdrop of gently ripping piano arpeggios and atmospheric percussion.

The fleeting “Jaguar”, another Neset/Eger composition clocks in at under three minute but makes a big impression with its muscular bass lines, colourful drumming and pithy sax and piano solos. It’s as lean and lithe as the big cat it references. 

“Music for Drums and Saxophone” features Neset and Eger in dialogue with the saxophonist producing his own percussive sounds via the instrument’s keys and pads and pecking/slap tonguing techniques. Heard in isolation it could easily be mistaken for an all out percussion discussion.

Virtuoso solo saxophone of a slightly more conventional kind introduces “Summer Dance” which rapidly develops into the kind of seething, bubbling,  polyrhythmic ferment that characterises much of the album. The melodies almost sound like Irish folk music with flute and fiddle both included in the mix but of course there’s infinitely more harmonic and rhythmic invention, especially when the leader’s saxophone takes flight.

The brief “Hymn from the World” features multi tracked saxophones and represents a suitably reverent epilogue. The church like feel and use of layering techniques reminded me of the work of Neset’s compatriot Hakon Kornstad.

With his fourth album as leader for a major label Neset has come up with yet another masterpiece. His musical imagination seems to know no bounds and the music here is as multi faceted and imaginative as ever, and arguably incorporates an even broader range of influences. The leader’s virtuosity is stunning but he’s well served by an absolutely terrific band with the two Brits acquitting themselves particularly well. It’s also interesting to see a more reflective aspect of the flamboyant Eger who is such a forceful presence with Phronesis. Of course his playing here is also phenomenal but these co-writing credits suggest a more thoughtful side too.

“Pinball” has again won almost unanimous critical acclaim and represents yet another major artistic statement from the brilliant Neset. There may still be some listeners who find his work too busy or intense but most jazz listeners seem to love the exhilarating blend of audacious compositional imagination and virtuoso musicianship that his music offers. And “Pinball”, for all its manic energy also offers moments of contrast and quiet reflection in a well structured programme.

Recorded to high technical standards at the Ocean Sound Studio on the island of Giske off the Norwegian coast “Pinball” might just be Marius Neset’s best album yet. And that, as his many fans will know, is saying a lot. 


Marius Neset is currently touring the UK, dates as follows;


Marius Neset saxophone
Magnus Hjorth piano
Petter Eldh bass
Jim Hart vibes
Josh Blackmore drums
   

09 Apr 2015
Crucible Studio
Sheffield


10 Apr 2015
CBSO Centre
Birmingham


11 Apr 2015
Brighton Dome
Brighton


12 Apr 2015
Colston Hall (The Lantern)
Bristol


15 Apr 2015
Lakeside Arts Centre
Nottingham


16 Apr 2015
Seven Arts Centre
Leeds


17 Apr 2015
The Capstone Theatre
Liverpool


http://www.mariusneset.info

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