“The most exciting saxophone prospect to have emerged in Norway since Jan Garbarek.” Marlbank (GB)

Name: Marius Neset &amp; Trondheim Jazz Orchestra - Lion (LP)
SKU: OTJH41580889797
Availability: InStock

180 gram Black Virgin Vinyl with a free Download Code included!

Norwegian saxophonist Marius Neset has spread his wings way beyond the realm of jazz music. ‘Lion is a mature, big-canvas statement… intricately woven and exciting’ The Guardian. The thrilling title track from Golden Xplosion is redesigned subtly with noir jazz-like brass punctuations feeding into the hypnotic intensity of Neset’s intensely spiky rhythm-pattern layering, a signature element of the saxophonist’s compositions. ‘I started learning drums when I was five and I learnt very quickly to play a groove,’ he says. ‘I think the drums gave me a rhythmic base that was very important. I learnt very young to play in these odd meters so I think I have a very natural feel for it. In the conservatory I met people like [Phronesis] drummer Anton Eger, and practiced grooves on the saxophone with him.’ Neset also has the uncanny ability of making one saxophone sound like two or three; leaping from bass groove to melody in the space of a phrase is another standout feature of ‘Golden Xplosion. On ‘Weight of the World’ we hear a side of Neset’s writing we might not have heard previously. It feature Erik Hegdal’s blustery free jazz-influenced baritone sax and is something usually more attributable to his fellow countrymen, for instance avant-noise Scandi-jazz saxophonist The Thing’s Mats Gustafsson. Neset knows and trusts these musicians. ‘All of the musicians who make up the orchestra have such a strong musical identity that I didn’t think of them as a big band, but more as twelve strong musical personalities who I’d compose for individually.’ ‘The music was energetic, wild and colourful – like a lion ferociously chasing its prey,’ says Neset, the young lion king bravely leading the pack.