Marius Neset: Norwegian Woods

By IAN PATTERSON, Published: December 17, 2012

Marius Neset has become one of today's most talked-about saxophonists since the release ofGolden Xplosion (Edition Records, 2011). The album, which also features pianist/keyboardistDjango Bates, bassist Jasper Hoiby and drummer Anton Eger, has received widespread five-star reviews, and countless superlatives have been used to heap praise on the 26-year-old from Bergen. Neset has been described as the most important Norwegian saxophonist since Jan Garbarek and has been compared to tenor great Michael Brecker, which may be high praise or millstone. What's sure is that in a very short time, Neset has emerged as one of Europe's most exciting young jazz talents and a major draw.

Neset got his wings at Copenhagen's Rhythmic Music Conservatory, and he couldn't have enrolled at a better time. In 2005, the RMC appointed English pianist/keyboard player and composer Django Bates as its first Professor of Rhythmic Music, to raise the Conservatory's international profile and, naturally enough, to cultivate excellence. Bates soon recognized Neset's talent and recruited him for his StoRMChaser big band, which went on to record Spring is Here (Shall We Dance?) (Lost Marble, 2008). Bates—who has described Neset as "an astonishing saxophonist"—also invited Neset to join his small ensemble Human Chain. Now that's praise.

Since 2005, Neset's main concern has been JazzKamikaze, one of the most original-sounding quintets on the contemporary jazz scene. The Return of JazzKamikaze (Stunt/Sundance, 2012), the band's fourth recording, could well be its most adventurous to date, and it signals a return to a sound that resembles the band's first two albums, following the pop-rock vocal experiment ofSupersonic Revolutions (Seven Seas Music, 2010).

Neset's latest project is Neck of the Woods (Edition Records, 2012), a captivating duo recording with tuba player Daniel Herskedal that explores a region somewhere between Norwegian folkloric music and the ambience of sacred music. It's perhaps Neset's most significant musical statement to date and provides further confirmation, as if any more were needed, that a major new voice in jazz/contemporary music has entered stage center.

Read more: http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=43350#.UODQlqXhEhQ