JAGA JAZZIST: Most devoted fan Vol. 1
Øyvind Rolland
UPCOMING CONCERTS:
Nothing planned at the moment..
Check Jaga Jazzist on myspace for info as well
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KILLL
01.02.09 Norway, Oslo, Henie Onstad Art Center
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13.03.07 Singapore, Singapore, Mosaic Music Festival
Jaga Jazzist at Hodokvas Festival, Piestany, Slovakia 2006
17.08.06 Slovakia, Piestany, Hodokvas Festival
11.08.06 Norway, Oslo, Øyafestivalen
29.07.06 Norway, Fredrikstad, Månefestivalen
30.04.06 Belgium, Brussels, Les Nuits Botaniques Festival
Jaga Jazzist at Samfundet, Trondheim, Norway 2005
02.12.05 UK, Camber Sands, All Tomorrow's Parties
10.09.05 Norway, Stavanger, Folken
09.09.05 Norway, Bergen, Kvarteret
08.09.05 Norway, Volda, Kroa
07.09.05 Norway, Tønsberg, Spiret
03.09.05 Norway, Oslo, Rockefeller
02.09.05 Norway, Skien, Ibsenhuset
01.09.05 Norway, Bø, Kroa
31.08.05 Norway, Kristiansand, Østsia
28.08.05 Norway, Tromsø, Driv
27.08.05 Norway, Bodø, Sinus
26.08.05 Norway, Trondheim, Samfundet
24.08.05 Norway, Sandvika, Musikkflekken
23.07.05 Norway, Molde, Molde International Jazz Festival
21.07.05 Norway, Flekkefjord, Fjellpark Festival
16.07.05 Belgium, Gent, 10 Days Off
15.07.05 The Netherlands, Amsterdam, 5 Days Off
14.07.05 Belgium, Dour, Dour Festival
02.07.05 Italy, Turin, Traffic Free Festival
15.06.05 Estonia, Tallinn, Lillepaviljonis
11.06.05 Ireland, Dublin, The Village
10.06.05 Northern Ireland, Belfast, Spring & Airbrake
09.06.05 Scotland, Edinburgh, Cabaret Voltaire
07.06.05 Scotland, Glasgow, Mono
06.06.05 UK, Norwich, Norwich Arts Centre
05.06.05 UK, Cheltenham, Wychwood Festival
04.06.05 UK, Bristol, Fiddlers
03.06.05 UK, Brighton, Pavillion Theatre
01.06.05 UK, London, Mean Fiddler
15.05.05 The Netherlands, Nijmegen, Doornroosje
14.05.05 The Netherlands, Amsterdam, Paradiso
13.05.05 The Netherlands, Utrecht, Tivoli
12.05.05 Germany, Heidelberg, Karlstorbahnhof
11.05.05 Germany, Cologne, Stadtgarten
10.05.05 Germany, Hamburg, Fabrik
07.05.05 Poland, Katowice, Hipnoza
06.05.05 Germany, Berlin, Maria
05.05.05 Poland, Warsaw, Fabryka Trcziny
04.05.05 Poland, Poznan, Eskulap
03.05.05 Czech Rep, Prague, Palac Akropolis
02.05.05 Austria, Salzburg, Jazzit
30.04.05 Switzerland, Geneva, Usine
29.04.05 Switzerland, Zurich, Jazz not Jazz Fest
28.04.05 Italy, Reggio Emilia, Boretto Theatre
27.04.05 Italy, Rome, La Palma
26.04.05 Italy, Florence, Flog
23.04.05 Spain, Barcelona, Bikini
22.04.05 Spain, Zaragoza, Electro2m5
21.04.05 Spain, Madrid, Arena
19.04.05 France, Toulouse, Bikini
18.04.05 France, Bordeaux, 4 Sans
17.04.05 France, Arles, Cargo de Nuit
16.04.05 France, Le Creusot, Giboulees Festival
15.04.05 France, Montpelier, Victoire 2
14.04.05 France, Lyon, Ninkasi
13.04.05 France, Angers, Chabada
12.04.05 France, Paris, Maroquinerie
10.04.05 Belgium, Brussels, Ancienne Belgique
09.04.05 Belgium, Antwerp, CC Luchtbal
08.04.05 Belgium, Kortrijk, De Kreun
07.04.05 Belgium, Hasselt, De Doos
06.04.05 Belgium, Turnhout, De Warande
04.04.05 Norway, Oslo, Cosmopolite, Album release
18.03.05 Norway, Voss, Vossajazz
09.03.05 Norway, Oslo, NRK, Petre Sessions
Jaga Jazzist at Cully Jazz Festival, Switzerland 2004
10.12.04 Oslo, Norway, Blå - JJ 10 years anniversary
07.11.04 US, DC, Washington, Black cat
04.11.04 US, CA, San Francisco, Great American Music Hall
19.08.04 Norway, Oslo, Betong, Studio 04
14.08.04 Sweden, Malmo, Malmo Festival, Gustav Scenen
16.07.04 Norway, Tonsberg, Slottsfjell Festival
11.07.04 Canada, ON, Ottawa, Bluesfest, Black Sheep
10.07.04 Canada, On, Wasaga Beach Blues Festival
09.07.04 Canada, ON, Toronto, Harbourfront
08.07.04 Canada, PQ, Montreal, Montreal Jazz Festival
07.07.04 US, PA, Philadelphia, First Unitarian Church
06.07.04 US, NY, New York, Knitting Factory
05.07.04 US, VT, Club Metronome CANCELLED
03.07.04 US, OH, Columbus, Wexner Center
02.07.04 US, IL, Chicago, Empty Bottle
30.06.04 Canada, SK, Saskatoon, Odeon
29.06.04 Canada, AB, Edmonton, The Starlite Room
28.06.04 Canada, AB, Edmonton, The Starlite Room
27.06.04 Canada, AB, Calgary, Jazz Festival Calgary
26.06.04 Canada, BC, Vancouver, Vancouver Jazz Festival
25.06.04 Canada, BC, Victoria, Victoria Jazz Festival
29.05.04 Norway, Oppdal, Swingin' Oppdal
01.05.04 Norway, Bergen, Kvarteret, Sts 10 years anniversary
27.03.04 Switzerland, Cully, Cully Jazzfestival
22.02.04 Norway, Moss, Parkteateret
21.02.04 Norway, Oslo, Blå - STS 10 years anniversary
Jaga Jazzist at Montreux Jazz Festival, Switzerland
08.11.03 Germany, Berlin, Berlin Jazzfest, Tränenpalast
18.10.03 The Netherlands, Amsterdam, Melkweg
17.10.03 France, Reims, Octob`rock festival
16.10.03 France, Toulouse, Jazz sur son 31
15.10.03 France, Nancy, Nancyjazz pulsations
14.10.03 France, Lille, Aeronef
13.10.03 Belgium, Brussels, AB box
12.10.03 France, Dieppe, Euros
11.10.03 France, Angers, Chabada
10.10.03 France, Paris, Factory festival
30.08.03 Norway, Tønsberg, Oseberg Kulturhus
29.08.03 Norway, Porsgrunn, Kafé K
28.08.03 Norway, Bergen, Logen
23.08.03 Norway, Trondheim, Samfundet
08.08.03 Norway, Oslo, Øyafestivalen
03.08.03 United Kingdom, Eastnor, Big Chill Festival
02.08.03 United Kingdom, London, The Garage
13.07.03 The Netherlands, Hague, North Sea Jazz Festival
12.07.03 Belgium, Brugge, Cactus Festival
11.07.03 Belgium, Dour, Dour Festival
10.07.03 Germany, Cologne, Stadtgarten
09.07.03 Switzerland, Montreaux, Montreaux Jazz Festival
08.07.03 Luxemburg, Esch-alzette, Kulturfabrik
06.07.03 France, Belfort, Eurokennes Festival
05.07.03 Norway, Kongsberg, Kongsberg Jazz festival
04.07.03 Norway, Horten, Vestfold Festspillene, Lace
27.06.03 Chech Republic, Prague, Open Air Festival
14.06.03 Spain, Barcelona, Sonar Festival
31.05.03 Denmark, Aarhus, Spot Festival
30.05.03 Denmark, Copenhagen, Copenhagen Jazzhouse
26.05.03 Germany, Cologne, Stadtgarten
25.05.03 Germany, Dresden, Star club
24.05.03 Poland, Warsaw, Jazzgot
23.05.03 Poland, Katowice, Hipnoza
22.05.03 Germany, Berlin, Maria
20.05.03 Austria, Vienna, Wuk
18.05.03 France, Arles, cargo de nuit
17.05.03 Spain, Mieres, Jovellanos
15.05.03 Spain, San Sebastian, Gaeztezena
13.05.03 France, Marseille
10.05.03 The Netherlands, Utrecht, Tivoli
09.05.03 The Netherlands, Groningen, Vera
08.05.03 The Netherlands, Tilburg, O13
07.05.03 The Netherlands, Amsterdam, VPRO (Radio show)
06.05.03 The Netherlands, Rotterdam, Nighttown
05.05.03 The Netherlands, Haarlem, Bevrijdings Fest
02.05.03 Ireland, Dublin, The Village
01.05.03 United Kingdom, London , Ocean
26.04.03 Italy, Rome, La Palma
25.04.03 Italy, Verona, Interzona
23.04.03 Switzerland, Zürich, Moods
20.04.03 Switzerland, Martigny, Caves Du Manoir
19.04.03 France, Strasbourg, Laiterie
18.04.03 France, Lyon, Ninkasi
17.04.03 France, Paris, New Morning
16.04.03 France, Rennes, Ubu
15.04.03 Belgium, Brussels, AB
11.04.03 Norway, Voss, Vossajazz
14.03.03 Norway, Trondheim, Samfundet
09.03.03 United Kingdom, Royal Festival Hall, Ether 03
28.02.03 Norway, Oslo, Blå - 5 years anniversary
22.02.03 Norway, Tønsberg, Spellemannprisen ("Grammy")
15.02.03 Norway, Oslo, Betong (Anti-War Concert)
Jaga Jazzist at Trans Musicalés, Rennes, France 2002
06.12.02 France, Rennes, Trans musicales
13.11.02 Norway, Danskebåten, Spraydate
09.11.02 The Netherlands. Rotterdam, Rotown
08.11.02 Belgium, Brugge, Cactus Club
07.11.02 Belgium, Hasselt, Muziek-O-Drome
06.11.02 Belgium, Brussels, AB
03.11.02 The Netherlands, Utrecht, Ekko
02.11.02 The Netherlands, Amsterdam, Paradiso
01.11.02 Norway, Bø, Kroa
31.10.02 Norway, Hamar, Hydranten
30.10.02 Norway, Sarpsborg, Musikkinstrumentakademiet
29.10.02 Norway, Tønsberg, Oseberg Kulturhus
28.10.02 Norway, Kristiansand, Vaskeriet
26.10.02 Norway, Stavanger, Folken
25.10.02 Norway, Bergen, Kvarteret
24.10.02 Norway, Sogndal, Meieriet
23.10.02 Norway, Volda, Rust
20.10.02 Norway, Sunndal, Sunndal Kino
19.10.02 Norway, Trondheim, Blæst
18.10.02 Norway, Hemnes, Hemnes jazzforum
17.10.02 Norway, Bodø, Sinus
16.10.02 Norway, Sortland, Sortland Jazz og Viseklubb
15.10.02 Norway, Tromsø, Driv
12.10.02 Norway, Lillehammer, Døla jazz
10.10.02 United Kingdom, London, Fertilizer Festival
20.09.02 Norway, Oslo, Rockefeller
25.08.02 The Netherlands, Lowlands Festival
24.08.02 Belgium, Hasselt, Pukkelpop Festival
10.08.02 Oslo, Blå, Oslo Jazz Festival
09.08.02 Norway, Tjøme, Gamle Ormelet
27.07.02 Norway, Fredrikstad, Månefestivalen
21.07.02 Sweden, Stockholm, Stockholm Jazz Festival
29.06.02 Denmark, Roskilde Roskilde festival
14.06.02 Norway, Oslo, Norwegian Wood
12.04.02 United Kingdom, London, The Spitz
11.04.02 Belgium, Brussels, Ancienne Belgique
10.04.02 Belgium, Diksmuide, 4ad
02.02.02 Norway, Bergen, USF, Dugnad
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The Straits Times
Effortless cool
By Yeow Kai Chai
WORLD VISION: Norwegian jazz-rocktronica collective Jaga Jazzist was a joyous riot of hipster style and genre-fusing ingenuity.
JAGA Jazzist gives globalisation a good name.
While growing world interconnectivity may have sparked off angry street protests elsewhere, the only sparks emitted by some ferocious Vikings at the Esplanade were of love, joy and endless fun. They conquered hearts and minds and set people free.
You'd be gobsmacked by their genre-fusing vision where impossible is nothing (to steal from a shoe company's smart inversion of a familiar saying). Call them the best little big secret this year's Mosaic has to offer. The 10-member Norwegian jazz-rocktronica collective wooed a largely unsuspecting 800-strong turnout who were intrigued by press comparisons to hipsters such as Talk Talk, Stereolab and Aphex Twin.
Nothing could have prepared one for Jaga's heady 14-track, 100-minute set. Here was a phantasmagoria of instruments that came alive in the hands (and mouths) of these affable preppie youths who looked as if they had just sauntered in from a university campus. Yes, these folks are cool without having to scrawl on kohl eyeliner or pierce any part of their anatomy.
The same goes for their opening act, Singapore's very own experimenters The Observatory. They gave a hint of where they are going with a four-track teaser (the shape-shifter When I See A Fire is a standout) from their forthcoming album, A Far Cry From Here.
Their Norwegian counterparts could well be excellent career mentors. Jaga Jazzist - 'jaga' apparently means 'to bend' in Old Norse - excel in sidestepping conventions. They go heavy-metal loud, pastoral soft,
shoegazing intimate, prog-rock epic - sometimes all in the same song.
Take the incredible All I Know Is Tonight, taken off their latest album What We Must, which sounds even bolder when performed live. The spy-thriller atmospherics and thunderous rock precision were
orchestrated to shards of blinding white light - one second, Martin Horntveth attacked the drums as if there was no tomorrow; the next Andreas Mjos skittered away on the marimba in an interlude of
music-box prettiness.
There were other highlights: Sigur Ros-like beauty, as in Swedenborgske Rom, which was buoyed by wordless choral purring; and mysterious horns and keys conspiring in I Have A Ghost, Now What?.
A breathtaking feat this was, considering how the whole ambition just seemed to insinuate itself without any arty self-importance and eventually compelled the famously sedentary Singapore crowd to stand
up in awe.
Caught up perhaps in this round of worldly camaraderie, the very funny Horntveth re-named one song, Oslo Skyline, as Singapore Skyline, to great whoops from the crowd.
If this is one perk of globalisation, can we have more, please?
Smalltown Supersound/Ninja Tune 2005
Smalltown Supersound/Sonet 2005
01 All I know is tonight
02 Stardust Hotel
03 For all you happy people
04 Oslo Skyline
05 Swedenborgske Rom
06 Mikado
07 I have a ghost, now what?
01 All I know is tonight
02 Stardust Hotel
03 For all you happy people
04 Oslo Skyline
05 Swedenborgske Rom
06 Mikado
07 I have a ghost, now what?
Bonus CD - Spydeberg Sessions
01 Mikado (Spydeberg demo)
02 All I Know Is Tonight (Piethopraxis rough rough mix)
03 Stardust Hotel (demo)
04 Swedenborgske Rom (Spydeberg demo)
4/5
Ten-piece Nordic collective present their "rock" album.
Once famed only as the land of Eurovision duds, Norway continues to offer up musical surprises. The remarkable Jaga Jazzist are a long-standing fixture, but lately they've rethought their direction - dropping the Jazzist from their name and most of the jazz from their sound. Instead of sequencers and Zappa-like quirkiness comes a direct, powerful instrumental music, part prog rock, part post rock (first tried out on in a session included on a bonus album here). The opening track of the album proper, All I Know Is Tonight, sets the tone - layered guitars, a big filmic theme and pulsing Mellotron all orchestrated in a dramatic everything-but-the-kitchen-sink production. From then on they deploy their vast arsenal - rock band plus brass and vibes - with taste and imagination over seven tracks. The men from from The Mars Volta rate Jaga their favourite new band, you just might too.
John Bungey
5/5
Maybe you’re unaware of them but Jaga Jazzist released their first album, Jævla Jazzist Grete Stitz, back in 1994, when the youngest members of the Norwegian 10-piece were still only 14 years old. They first came to my attention with their 2001 album A Livingroom Hush - and I wasn’t the only one, it got everyone from The Observer newspaper to The Mars Volta singing their praises.
Their take on electronic music, A Livingroom Hush was a huge turning point for the band, as tracks like Animal Chin and Lithuania brought joy to an ever-growing legion of fans in living rooms and venues the world over.
Having found a niche that people seemed to like, Jaga Jazzist might have stuck where they were but after a day spent in the Norwegian woods recording a demo known as the Spydeberg Session, word began to spread of their rock album.
And here it is, What We Must, but just because it’s being called their rock album, don’t be fooled into thinking this is like anything you’ve heard before. This is an album made by people who’ve heard a lot of rock, like a lot of rock and then set about doing something else with that in mind.
They have a lot in common with bands like Mogwai with their epic and moving entirely instrumental music. From the softly blown saxophone sounds that open For All You Happy People (and become something of a theme through out the album) to the cacophony of noise that comes in Swedenborgske Rom, Jaga explore and experiment with dynamics and sounds to astonishing effect.
Their mantra when they made their first album more tha 10 years ago was, “trying without fear of failing.” That has become an idea that has run throughout their career and has never served them better that with What We Must. This is an album that is perfect in every way from the music to the production. I can’t wait to see where they go next but right now I’m just happy, delighted even, that this album exists because it makes the world a better place. Can I give any higher praise than that?
Like some hydra-headed Scandinavian juggernaut, Jaga have now completed a ten-year mission to seek out new musical life and new musical civilizations. Indeed, What We Must opens with a sample of the classic Star Trek transporter noise, so we're in no doubt that space is now the place for these plucky astronauts. However the space they've been exploring is the Norwegian countryside - in a remote forest hideout, searching for something closer to their live sound - and a radical re-think has resulted in their greatest leap for mankind yet.
In a typical perverse fashion these young Nordics started with Gil Evans' sophistication and then began adding the elements of music that young people were supposed to be listening to (even if they were working on word of mouth rather than actual experience)! Hence, by Livingroom Hush we got the wonderful Drum 'n' Jazz concoctions that blithely ignored convention and translated into such a visceral live experience. Fears that dropping the 'Jazzist' may indicate a lessening of the rigour of their earlier horn groupings and lead to more rockist statements prove to be both true and false. Yes, the big-band-in-a-spin-dryer intricacies have faded somewhat but in their place come sweeping arrangements that take in post-rock dynamics, dazzling guitar figures and the vaulting ambition of the best prog.
Take track two: ''Stardust Hotel''. From a deceptively naïve little guitar figure we're suddenly catapulted into the stratosphere by some soaring Steve Howe-like octave jumping (Howe seems to be a common touchstone throughout) and Martin Horntveth's typically octopoid drums. This is music that dares to contrast introspection with bombast but without the gloomy self-knowingness of, say, Tortoise.
A lot of this is obviously down to the fact that these guys are players of the first water. Like all truly great albums repeated listens endlessly repay the listener with more detail. About halfway through you realise that the brass and woodwinds are still as integral to their sound (especially in providing those wonderful yearning melody lines) but are just a little more retiring. ''Swedensborgske Rom'' takes a very Hatfield and The North-like meditation and then crosses it with vocal samples straight out of an early Prefab Sprout/Thomas Dolby production while steel guitar hovers, cosmically.
Of course all of this is meaningless when you come to realise that nothing else really sounds like this band any more. How many combine styles so effortlessly and still leave you humming melodies that are as warmly remembered as long-lost friends? Beam yourself up, you won't regret it...
Chris Jones
Ganz schön voll auf der Bühne. Jaga sind eine Bigband, und es gibt sie schon sehr lange - seit elf Jahren, um genau zu sein. Die Liveshow des Ensembles ist ein Orkan, der James Last und Max Greger erblassen lässt. Jetzt ist es der zehnköpfigen Mannschaft aus Norwegen mit "What We Must" endlich gelungen, die himmelstürmende Kraft ihrer Musik auch auf Platte durchscheinen zu lassen. Schwelgen in der Melodie, bis die Kühe nach Hause kommen, heißt das Motto, wie so oft in Europas hohem Norden. Und Jaga haben genügend erprobte Mittel, um das Kaleidoskop der Klänge immer noch ein Stückchen weiterzudrehen als erwartet: Bassklarinetten, schmetternde Bläser, walls of guitar, Chor ... Und wenn man denkt, das Stück könnte vorbei sein, dreschen sie ins Schlagzeug und landen eine Wolke weiter oben. Manchmal glaubt man, Mercury Rev, Mogwai und Mahavishnu Orchestra gleichzeitig zu hören, aber es sind Jaga, die diesen Breitwand-Wahnsinn veranstalten. Das Tolle an ihnen ist, dass sie hörbar als Kollektiv spielen, ohne im Kuddelmuddel zu landen - keine Alleingänge, denn jedes Instrument hat eine klare Aufgabe: ein multisynaptisches Molekül zu sein, das mit den anderen immer wieder neue Ballungen von Harmonie eingehen kann. Einfach großartig.
Hendrik Kröz
5/5
The only possible drawback to this Norwegian dectet's triumphant Harbourfront appearance last year was the sense that they might have created unrealistically high expectations for their next album. Not to fear: Jaga have created unreal studio versions of their new material. Guitarist/leader Lars Horntveth and his pals have swapped the skittering programmed beats and angular lines of their earlier work for a more expansive palette, producing a work that is both unapologetically ambitious and invitingly playful. What We Must seems to have been inspired by Gil Evans' colourful arrangements, Tortoise's crafty juxtapositions, early King Crimson orneriness and the melodic grandeur of Pat Metheny at his most exploratory. There are passages throughout, however, that could only be Jaga's, like the wordless choral singing on "Swedenborgske Rom" or the heavenly techno-space-jazz of "Mikado." Whenever the proceedings threaten to get derailed, they're brought back on track by Horntveth's hook-heavy, charging guitars and his brother Martin's exuberant drumming. Is it the new prog-rock? The nu-Norwegian jazz? Regardless, it's staggeringly good.
Mike Doherty
Northern Lights
Jaga Jazzist co-leader Lars Horntveth is a prodigy, having started the band and recorded an album by the time he was 14. The reedist/guitarist/keyboardist released his first solo CD last year, the incredible Pooka (Smalltown Supersound), which won Norway's equivalent of a Grammy for best electronica album. And along with his Jaga and real-life bro, drummer Martin Horntveth, he's one of the primaries in the Norwegian chart-topping pop band the National Bank.
It's Lars' talent that provides the 10-member Jaga Jazzist with the majority of its postjazz/rocktronica sound and vision. With a huge array of musicians and instruments at his disposal he can go large scale with the group's compositions and arrangements, which has helped the now 11-year-old band reach an international audience beyond the fjords. What We Must (Ninja Tune) is the band's latest long-player, and it's another grand experience, with seven expertly arranged, multitiered songs featuring plenty of strings, horns and electronics.
The shoegaze-meets-prog rocker "All I Know Is Tonight" and "Stardust Hotel," which features a descending keyboard riff and sound straight out of Dennis DeYoung's bag of Styx, open the album with jolts. The low-key "For All You Happy People" sounds like it could have come from Lars' solo CD, with its airy sax lines (so close-miked that you can hear the player's inhalations and the pads hitting the keyholes), guitar harmonics and layered keyboard squiggles. "Swedenborgske Rom" starts with layered, harmonized voices and builds into a wall-of-sound ballad. "Mikado" and "I Have a Ghost, Now What?" are like Muzak for the postrock set-but in a good way-especially in the manner the wordless voices (sung live on the former and played as keyboard samples on the latter) carry melodies that might normally be played by strings.
I'm not sure how well track four, "Oslo Skyline," captures its subject, but I do know that Jaga Jazzist represents some of the best things in modern Norwegian music.
Christopher Porter
5/6
Jaga på alvor
Et eksemplarisk hamskifte.
CD: I den grad et band med ti medlemmer noen gang vil kunne finne seg sjæl, så høres det ut som Jaga Jazzist i hvert fall er i nærheten på bandets tredje ordentlige album etter internasjonalt anerkjente «A Livingroom Hush» og «The Stix».
Noe for seg selv
«What We Must» er blitt varslet som bandets kjærlighetserklæring til shoegazermusikken, den drøyt femten år gamle retningen innen indierock hvor søte, enkle popstrukturer ble presset gjennom lag på lag med effekttung gitarlyd, for siden å komme ut på den andre siden som kompleks, progressiv psykedelisk pop med melodilinjer du like fullt kunne nynne på i dusjen.
I tilfellet Jaga Jazzist, vil en omfavnelse av eller tilnærming til en slik retning uansett bli noe for seg selv - man får ikke umiddelbart med seg deres intense elektronika-fakter eller Martin Horntveths frenetiske «trommemaskin-med-ADHD»-rytmer over i en slik seig sfære av stemninger og lyd.
Samtidig høres Jaga her mer ut som et band enn de noen gang har gjort. Det går også en ren og opplagt linje fra det som tilsynelatende er bandets nyorientering mot et mer gitarbasert rocklydbilde, tilbake til for eksempel den Tortoise-inspirerte «Lithuania» fra «Hush». Legg til litt for gitarist Harald Frølands evig hengslete proto-shoegazerpositur, og det går an å konkludere med at Jaga Jazzist alltid har hatt et Kevin Shields-element i musikken sin.
Omdefinerer
Det mest slående med «What We Must» er ikke bare det økte gitarnærværet, men mer hvordan Jaga Jazzist omdefinerer bruken av sitt soniske arsenal innenfor et mer tradisjonelt rockgruppe-paradigme. Trommemaskinen er for det meste borte, erstattet av et organisk, bunnsolid groove hvor turtallet er skrudd kraftig ned. Blås og fløyte har tidligere fått være med på den frenetiske moroa og virret fritt inne i Jagas lydbilde, nå opptrer de nærmest som gruppas vokal, med et melodibærende mandat de oppfyller på utsøkt vis.
En konsekvens av disse grepene er at et helt nytt alvor entrer Jaga-soundet. Her er vemod, ettertenksomhet, melankoli og ro på en måte vi aldri har hørt fra et band ellers er kjent for sitt hyperaktive og vinnende vesen. Såvidt forskjellige låter som den buldrende Slowdive-møter-Motorpsycho-åpningen «All I Know Is Tonight» , den svevende «Stardust Hotel» og den sakrale «Swedenborgske Rom» er alle flotte eksempler på Jagas voksne jeg.
Men til tross for at «What We Must» av plateselskapet omtales som «en mastodont av en plate», så er dette i grunnen et Jaga det er enda lettere å like enn før, et Jaga som foredler sin ambisiøse, komplekse musikk i mer melodiøs og organisk retning uten å miste noe vesentlig på veien.
Sven Ove Bakke
5/6
Mer rocka fra unikt band.
Jaga Jazzist har tatt et stort skritt i rocka retning på "What We Must" som er nok et tidløst album fra dette nokså unike bandet.
Anført av brødrene Lars og Martin Horntveth hopper Jaga Jazzist nok en gang elegant bukk over genregrensene. Flere ganger underveis slår det meg hvor utvungent og ledig dette 10 personer sterke kollektivet klarer å forene ulike musikkstiler.
Jeg tror ikke Jaga Jazzist forsøker å finne opp kruttet på nytt, men at det rett og slett handler om å lage god musikk som svinger og utfordrer.
Det gjør det - stort sett.
"What We Must" er mer rocka i snittet. Ingen tvil om det, men albumet er verken hårete eller fryktelig hardtslående, om noen fryktet det. Identiteten er intakt, og gamle fans vil ikke miste nattesøvnen.
Personlig ønsker jeg meg iblant enda mer driv og dynamikk, men det finnes friksjoner her; spennende brytninger og klanger som hever Jaga Jazzist-albumet over det meste som utgis av norsk populærmusikk.
Låtene er melodiske, delikate og underfundige. Et par av dem, "Stardust Hotel" og "Oslo Skyline", er reale monstre med potensial til å bli livefavoritter når Jaga Jazzist om kort tid legger ut på veien.
Espen A. Hansen
5/6
Bare må gjøre det
Jaga Jazzist har laget sitt mest tilgjengelige album til nå. Gruppa presenterer den nye plata på Cosmopolite mandag.
«What We Must» er Jaga Jazzists tredje eller femte album, alt ettersom. Det er aldri lett å definere denne gruppa, heller ikke på denne plata der de går helt nye veier og samtidig klarer å låte veldig som vi venter at Jaga skal låte.
I likhet med spinoffgruppa Shining har Jaga Jazzist vært i studio med produsent Kåre Christoffer Vestrheim, og laget ei slags rockeplate. Ikke med bredbent posering eller lettfattelige sanger, dette er ikke blitt instrumentalutgaven av The National Bank, men låtene er klarere definerte enn vi har vært vant til fra før, og arrangementene mer rett på sak. Hadde vi fått noen høytflygende sangpartier innimellom kunne «What We Must» kvalifisert som progrock, men da hadde ikke Jaga vært Jaga lenger. Vi kan selvfølgelig innvende at det begynner å bli veldig vanlig med jazzmusiker som vil spille rock nå. Jaga er kanskje de siste som får lov på en stund, gruppa er likevel noe helt for seg selv, og kommer uansett til å finne på noe helt annet neste gang.
Nå begynner «What We Must» med den massive «All I Know Is Tonight», som slår an tonen for resten av plata. Den storslåtte lyden av 11 musikere (produsenten inkludert) i full bredde kommer tilbake mange ganger, dynamisk variert med mer åpne partier der enkeltmedlemmer får skinne litt for seg selv. Enkelte overraskelser har de også plass til, som den vakre koringen i «Swedenborgske Rom». Bare mot slutten kommer en følelse av vi har fått nok, for dette er musikk å bli god og mett av.
Geir Rakvaag
5/6
Nok et steg
Jaga i et slags rock-modus. Knallbra, selvfølgelig.
Omar Rodriguez fra Mars Volta har utpekt Jaga Jazzist som sitt nye favorittband. Litt av en fortjenstmedalje å henge rundt halsen i disse tider, og koblingen er selvfølgelig ikke ulogisk.
«All I Know Is Tonight» henter uttalt inspirasjon fra britisk shoegazer- og 70-tallsprogrock. Det betyr ikke at musikken handler om halsbrekkende temposkifter over hvitstøyete gitarvegger. Derimot merkes inspirasjonen i den eksplosive dynamikken og pompøsiteten når det drar seg til, og i de langstrakte, sobre og vakre melodilinjene over et sydende og pulserende komp.
Bandet tar seg bedre tid en før. Ikke like hektisk, ikke like mye «hei, hør alle ideene vi har!». Et par uforløste spor rundt midten av plata gjør at Jaga fortsatt har til gode å lage sitt virkelige mesterverk, men aldri har de fungert på flere plan. På plate har musikken gjerne blitt mindre umiddelbar og energisk enn på bandets fantastiske konserter. Men ikke denne gangen. «What We Must» går rett i blodet, men tar også lange omveier om hjernen dersom du er innstilt på det.
Høydepunkter: «All I Know Is Tonight» og «Stardust Hotel»
Vegard Enlid
Veldig bra!
Jaga Jazzist har bebudet et skifte mot et mer rocka uttrykk med «What We Must», og det kan nok stemme.
Jaga Jazzist har bebudet et skifte mot et mer rocka uttrykk med «What We Must», og det kan nok stemme.
På den annen side kan man like gjerne si at musikerkollektivet mer enn noen gang løfter sitt energiske uttrykk over sjangerbåser der begreper som jazz, elektronika og 70-talls progrock befinner seg.
For Jaga Jazzist klarer å forene alle inspirasjoner og sin enorme musikalske kreativitiet til et organisk banduttrykk som er spekket med forløsende vendinger og lekne detaljer.
Og som fungerer bortimot optimalt fordi de samtidig unngår å overlesse låtene med for mye moro på en gang. Dermed gjør de seg selv også hakket mer tilgjengelig.
Hanne Farestvedt
5/6
På høy tid å innrømme det: Jeg har alltid hatt problemer med Jaga Jazzist. Det døve navnet. Det store antallet medlemmer. (”Å, så artig! Dette må vi skrive om i Dagbladet FREDAG!”) Den politisk korrekte utforskertrangen. De evinnelige gode anmeldelsene i britisk presse. Men fremfor alt fordi de alltid har vært lyden av begavede folk som har latt sin egen smartness komme i veien for å lage musikk som ønsker å kommunisere. Vel, den tid er forbi nå.
Man kan tolke så mangt av albumtittelen. Kanskje at bandet føler seg tvunget til å gjøre noe som vil gi dem det mye omtalte gjennombruddet de strengt tatt bare har fått på papiret. Uansett har de omsider laget en plate det er mulig å elske, ikke bare beundre.
Det er ikke så mye jazz igjen på What We Must, derimot er det hauger av Jaga her. Hvilket i klartekst betyr progrock av den utsvevende sorten. Forskjellen fra tidligere er at de tilsynelatende improviserte partiene føles gode å høre på. Hvilket i klartekst skulle bety tapetmusikk, men vær du trygg: Den jevne heispassasjer ville fort betakket seg for dette.
Den underskjønne singelen ”All I Know Is Tonight” er en representativ ambassadør som selvsagt får klippe snoren. Melodisk duvende blås og plunk bak lukkede øyne, men med konkret riffing som holder det hele i tømme, og fritt for den enerverende flinkis-elektronikken som har vært slik en klump om foten på bandet tidligere. Platens høydepunkt følger hakk i hæl: ”Stardust Hotel”, en majestetisk låt med så mye syttitallshasj i seg at bandet bør være forsiktige med å ta den med seg i passkontrollen fremover.
Men utover dét er det bare å ønske dem lykke til på ferden, og gratulere med ypperlig bagasje, pent pakket og akkurat passe tung.
Thomas Talseth
5/6
Jaga jazzer opp rocken.
I en vår fylt av spennende jazz-plater, er det vel kun naturlig at Jaga Jazzist kommer med sitt bidrag.
Sjelden eller aldri møtt med dårlige omtaler og anmeldelser, har på mange måter de 10 musikerne i bandet (ikke korpset nei) oppnådd en særstilling i norsk musikkliv.
Mange forbinder de kanskje ennå med Big Bang-låten «Girl In Oslo», men faktum er at deler av Jaga har hatt instrumentene sine innom en hel drøss med norske utgivelser de seneste årene.
Det er nok å nevne navn som Motorpsycho, Shining, Solveig Slettahjell, National Bank, Cato Salsa Experience, Cloroform, Euroboys, Real Ones, Turboneger, Hanne Hukkelberg og Susanna & The Magical Orchestra for å forstå omfanget av gruppens forgreininger.
Nå foreligger Jagas tredje album (eller femte om du vil), og som i tilfellet med Shining ser også Jaga Jazzist ut til å ville omfavne rocken.
Åpningssporet «All I Know Is Tonight» er i all sin monumentale og pompøse jazzrock, som snytt ut av nesen på noen av de beste prog-øyeblikkene til Motorpsycho.
«Stardust Hotel» har mange av de samme sterke elementene, og er sammen med førstesporet og den herlige «Oslo Skyline» de beste eksemplene på det bebudede stilskiftet til Jaga.
Noen vil helt sikkert høre likheter med et band som Godspeed You Black Emperor i de mest pompøse og orkestrale partiene. Større kompliment går det vel knapt an å få...
Gruppa har ellers beholdt mange av de trekkene vi kjenner fra før, og de som allerede kjenner Jaga vil neppe la seg verken overraske eller skuffe. Disse vil uansett finne trøst i «For All You Happy People», som er mer nedtonet, akustisk og klassisk jazzet enn resten av skiva.
Tilgjengelig
I stedet vil en låt som «Swedenborgske Rom» kanskje føre til at bandet får noen nye fans fra andre musikkleire, for sjelden har vi vel hørt potensialet til Jaga Jazzist få bedre utløp enn på denne låten!
Selv om mange kanskje vil kalle det prog og således lite tilgjengelig, kan man like gjerne kalle det vakkert og stemningsfullt.
Nå klarer ikke «What We Must» å holde på interessen gjennom hele plata, og både «Mikado» og «I Have A Ghost, Now What?» blir litt anonyme sammenlignet med resten av låtene.
Likevel er dette blitt en meget interessant og hørbar plate fra Jaga Jazzist som ikke står noe som helst tilbake for deres tidligere utgivelser.
Fin femmer.
Stig Henning Morken
4/6
Nye jazzister på rocker'n
Et forandret Jaga tar et nesten for langt steg bort fra sin lykkeformel.
I et intervju jeg gjorde med brødrene Lars og Martin Horntveth for en del år siden, sa de at Jaga Jazzist handler om å få ti mennesker til å spille så godt de kan, så lite som mulig. Poenget er at ti medlemmer må utfylle hverandre, ingen skal stikke seg ut, men være en del av den større "summen" Jaga.
På sitt femte album gjelder dette kanskje mer enn noen gang. "What We Must" er - som tittelen vel antyder - lyden av en gjeng som for alvor spiller sammen som et band.
Dette er også lyden av en gjeng som opplagt har tatt et valg om å bevege seg et godt stykke vekk fra sitt etter hvert vante "jagasound" av elektroniske lyder, jazzelementer og til tider rasende rytmer, perfeksjonert på det forrige albumet "The Stix".
Noen har for lengst antydet et rocka Jaga, og det stemmer for så vidt. Jazz eller elektronika er det i alle fall ikke, selv om disse elementene også er litt til stede her.
Mest av alt oppfattes "What We Must" som et forsøk på to ting samtidig: Det ene er å skape en flytende og behagelig stemning, i låter som "For all you happy people" og "Oslo skyline".
Det andre er å skape et stort, samlet driv som suggererende skal kapre lytteren. Det er her rocken kommer inn, ikke minst gjennom hyppig bruk av repetisjon.
Av og til kan det hele minne litt om lyden fra Horntveth-brødrenes The National Bank, men til tider oser det også 70- talls prog-rock av "What We Must".
Stort sett oppleves kombinasjonen av stemning og driv som vellykket, og "What We Must" som et solid album. Likevel er det noe i helheten som skurrer, noe som gjør at albumet ikke føles som et "must" fra start til mål.
Det handler ikke om mangel på gode melodier, men at noe av den mest intense Jaga-interessen forsvinner når alle de elektroniske kantene fra "The Stix" så tydelig er valgt bort.
Robert Hoftun Gjestad
6/6
Hva er det med Jaga Jazzist?
10 personer i et band, musikk som fyker ut i mange retninger og tar uventede og spennende omveier og avstikkere. At en henger med på ferden er uunngåelig, for her finnes både energi, skjønnhet, slående vekslinger og naturlige solopartier.
Rik instrumentering, stramme arrangementer som likevel gir rom for krumspring, perfekt dynamikk, flotte musikerprestasjoner.
"All I Know Is Tonight" er en perfekt intro, som lokker deg inn i dette lydriket. Dermed blir du med til veis ende, gjennom terreng som kan minne om de beste øyeblikkene fra 70-åras progrock, via stillfarne partier med utpregede jazzblåsere og inn i vakre landskaper med akustiske strengeleker. De leder igjen til tunge, harde partier med et trøkk vi best kjenner fra hard rock. Her tar det av titt og ofte, og alltid er landingen behagelig og elegant.
Ei kontrastfylt og vedvarende interessant plate.
I "Swedenborgske Rom" dukker også vokalistene opp, og skaper en sakral korstemning som fører oss videre inn i en dramatisk, perkusjonsfest.
Skulle det være lov å snakke om en hit i Jaga-sammenheng, må det være "Mikado", som har fengende, fiffige rytmer over et svevende gitarløp og melodiøse keyboards.
Her er veldig variasjon, men fasongen holder, og det er en fryd å la denne plata gå og gå. Den vil vare lenge.
Rune Westengen
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Smalltown Supersound 2004
01 Jaga ist zu hause
02 Plym
03 Swedish take-away (live)
04 Seems to me
Bonus:
05 Serafin i jungelen (Jomba vs. K-mart & Ravi ‘97 mix)
06 Magazine part I & II (Shining Rework)
...wonderful catchy, serpentine tunes...
In the UK the young 10-piece Norwegian drum 'n' jazz collective from Tonsberg have sprung, seemingly fully-formed, out of nowhere. Nothing, of course, could be further from the truth. Now, on the 10th anniversary of its release, Smalltown Supersound make available their rare Norway-only mini album, Magazine.
It's a welcome addition to their small but perfectly formed catalogue, and proves that core members - brothers Lars and Martin Horntveth - have always had these wonderful catchy, serpentine tunes running around their brains. It's also a testament to the Scandinavian tradition of getting jazz into the bloodstream when the kids are barely out of nappies. While this debut lays bare its influences much more transparently, it remains a scarily assured piece of work from what were essentially teenagers.
The aforementioned influences include early Mothers of Invention (in the jolly horn groupings) and, even more impressively, classic period Gil Evans: something that still holds sway over Lars Horntveth, as shown on his latest solo outing, Pooka. But added to this is the band's irrepressible way with a melody and d 'n' b dynamics - allegedly arrived at by merely hearing a description of what the genre sounded like! Of course, none of this would work without Jaga Jazzist's amazing and unorthodox blend of instrumentation.
"Jaga Ist Zu Hause" soars out of the speakers on wings of steel guitar, punctuated by clusters of woodwind and propelled by Martin's imaginatively hyperactive drums. "Plym"'s delicate acoustic stirrings feature some of the most heart-rending chords ever plucked and builds to a wildly megalomaniac storm of noise.
But it's "Swedish Takeaway" that indicates what fine straight jazzers these boys were before settling on a more recognizable sound. Recorded at Oslo's legendary Club Blå, it's a naggingly lovely two chord vamp that's as infectious as it is free, with some very fine trumpet soloing.
With a couple of remixes and the unusually vocal "Seems To Me", this release still sees itself as much a product of the indie scene as the more monumental heritage of Miles and Coltrane, and that's why Jaga continue to amaze. Like many of their fellow countrymen, they refuse to recognize the boundaries. Allegedly their next album throws prog rock into the mix. Rest assured, this should be a very good thing indeed...
Chris Jones
4.5/5
This is the album that could be snagged on Soulseek, but wasn’t available to buy anywhere outside Norway. A mere six years after its domestic release, along comes Smalltown Super sound to the rescue. Magazine is less cohesive than its successors, but all the more enjoyable for that. The album opens with the group’s trademark sound in full effect on Jag Its Zoo House. Martin Horntveth’s thunderous breakbeats propel a boisterous horn section and short, articulate solos alternate with thunderous, grin-inducing choruses. Great fun - sort of jazz minus the chin-stroking. Swedish Take-Away is a more straightforwardly jazzy live performance than anything else the band have produced, with long, vigorous solos that are a pleasure to follow. Plym is a gently reflective piece of gorgeousness that morphs into the sort of melody you find yourself humming the next day and from there the song concludes in pile-driving stomper mode. It might just be the best thing the band have done. Seems To Me is a rather lovely folk-like song complete with wistfully sung vocals in English. Serafini Jungelism, although a remix, reveals how close Jungle was to Jaga's hearts back in the day. Magazine Part 1 and 2 concludes the album sounding like a film soundtrack; Part 1 is moody and stormy, Part 2 magical.
The current status of the band might appear a little uncertain due to the recent release of Lars Horntveth's Pookah. Lars is the group’s main songwriter and his debut is notable for the extent to which it sounds like a Jaga album. More concerning though is that the group's last album, The Styx, added very little to the template established by its predecessors. Having said that, the group’s style is very much their own and is highly enjoyable. Whatever the (hopefully rosy) future holds, Magazine is a brilliant hotchpotch. Highly recommended.
Colin Buttimer
As somewhat of an unofficial tenth anniversary celebration of the group, Jaga Jazzist have decided to reissued their pre-Ninja Tune 1998 mini-LP, which has quickened my completist heart. Previously available only within their native Norway, or as a hefty-priced import (if you could find it), the re-release of Magazine now has wider distribution thanks in part to the success of the group's North American releases and subsequent tour. The complexity of the compositions and musicianship on this disc blows my mind, knowing that the majority of the group were still in their late teens when it was recorded. Such compositions and performances sound like that of seasoned players at least a generation or two ahead. The crisp, live electro-styled dance bass and drums of "Jaga Ist Zu Hause" pulse along for soaring melodies handled by unison xylophone and soprano sax. Normally, I have an aversion to modern day soprano sax performances, but I'm willing to overlook and even embrace it in this context. The broken-up swing and shimmering Fender Rhodes on "Swedish Take Away (Live)" recalls the popular, yet subtle 70s action flick soundtrack style, with a brief and tasteful drum solo. The cheerful "Seems To Me" is the first track I've heard of any of Jaga Jazzist's stuff featuring vocals, which are accompanied by acoustic guitar and tastefully peppered with glockenspiel and smooth horns. For the bonus tracks, "Serafin I Jungelen" re-mixes source material from an even earlier release to an electronic dance pulse, while "Magazine Part I & II" messes with the said releases tracks in a very open format. Having garnered a fair amount of acclaim outside of their homeland, I'm looking forward to additional re-releases of earlier material, which will continue to have me thinking that I'm an old fart based on the musical chops that I've got.
Gord Fynes
Minuit. Sur le pont, le dernier tramway de la journée s’ébranle vers le
terminus. C’est dans l’obscurité que l’équipe de Jaga Jazzist se dirige
vers la rue des clubs de jazz d’Oslo, écoutant la cité qui s’endort.
Eclairée par une pauvre ampoule fatiguée, l’enseigne en forme de Sax
fait figure de vestige. Ré-édition du maxi sorti initialement en 98, "
Magazine " conjugue pop et jazz, vibraphone et programmation, saxophone
et guitare, sur des instrumentations élastiques (à noter en bonus deux
remixs drum’n’bass et orchestral ). L’écriture d’orfèvre s’approprie la
couleur jaunie des murs enfumés, les ambiances sombres des cartes postales
représentant les clubs d’Indianapolis et de New-York.
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Ninjatune / Smalltown Supersound 2003
A: Day (Original) / Two Things
B: Day (Herbert’s Garden Mix) / Reminders (Dat Politics ‘Cha Cha Laxist’ Mix)
this ep lifts and redoes a couple of tracks from jagga's second album stix
(third if you count the soon-to-be rereleased mini-album magazine from
1998). if seaside ice-cream was a sound it would be day's lead melody.
subtly remixed and chaperoned by a whole brother/sisterhood of horns and
vibes, it's a pleasure to hear outside of the context of the album, which
just hasn't engaged, unlike its predecessor a livingroom hush. second track,
two things, could only previously be found on rune grammofon's celebratory
book/2cd release, money will ruin everything. where the stix was
disappointing because it seemed too much of a repeat of hush, this track
points to a creative route out of a potential cul-de-sac. it deconstructs
jagga's template of bigband flow into the kind of stop/start exhibited by a
learner driver unsure of their clutch/brake pedals. given herbert's meddling
with an older version of big band jazz on goodbye sweetheart, he's an ideal
candidate to mess with jaga. his remix of day delivers by giving the track
both a technological sheen and a fine adenoidal groove. dat politics show no
respect whatsoever to reminders, stix's track six. which is probably a good
thing really. the more messing the better i say.
colin buttimer
‘Day’ is the first 12" to be released from ten-piece Norwegian jazz / electronic hybrid outfit Jaga Jazzist’s second full-length album ‘The Stix’, released last year on Ninja Tune. Jaga Jazzist first made their full-scale emergence on the leftfield electronic scene in 2001 with the release of their debut album on SmallTown Supersound / Ninja Tune, ‘A Livingroom Hush.’ On this first album, Jaga Jazzist introduced their innovative signature sound, taking the swingbeat-meets-jazz live instrumentation of their ten-strong live lineup of instrumentalists and smashing it all through a digital blender to send the organic grooves juddering off at crazy angles and jungle tempos, in a style more akin to Squarepusher or Aphex Twin than Bix Biederbecke or Count Basie. (In fact ‘Charles Mingus with Squarepusher jammed up his arse’ was how one tongue-in-cheek UK music journo described it upon its release.)
The original album version of ‘Day’ opens the A-side of this 12" with distorted looped drum breaks and scything digital noise sweeps, before shifting into plucked acoustic guitar and vibraphone over a swinging beat that almost brings to mind a more propulsive Stereolab by the time the soft-focus horn and Moogs enter. Exclusive non-album track ‘Two Things’ traverses more abstract electronic territory, with whirring clicking textures and short blasts of radio noise barely held together by a loping IDM breakbeat and glacial melodic keyboard tones that breaks down halfway into glitch and click chaos. Menacing, yet beautifully so.
On the flip, Matthew Herbert’s ‘Garden’ mix of ‘Day’ completely reshapes the original track into a juddering percussive downtempo groove that’s filled with a slight feeling of robotic apprehension, before the reassuring horns and plucked guitar of the original settle back into the mix. While the sampled percussive crashes and slams and the glitches and bleeps swing back and forth, the entire track is underpinned almost by a feeling of industrial cut-up swing that’s perhaps a mark of Herbert’s recent work with his Big Band project. Dat Politics’ ‘Cha Cha Laxist’ mix of album track ‘Reminders’ opens with what sounds like someone whistling and clanking around in the kitchen, before wildly manipulated guitar tones and stretched out horns start to resonate through a glitchy landscape, of pops, white noise bursts and static. By the track’s end, the effect is almost like listening to an elegiac horn solo played through a radio whose reception is being interrupted by nuclear fallout, shortly before slamming kid606-style drill and bass beats and ominous synth chords kick in. Not for the faint-hearted.
Recommended for fans of Stereolab, Prop and Tortoise
Chris Downton
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Ninjatune / Smalltown Supersound 2003
01 kitty wú
02 day
03 another day
04 suomi finland
05 aerial bright dark round
06 reminders
07 toxic dart
08 i could have killed him in the sauna
09 doppelganger
10 the stix
Warner Norway / Smalltown Supersound 2002
01 kitty wú
02 day
03 another day
04 reminders
05 suomi finland
06 toxic dart
07 i could have killed him in the sauna
08 aerial bright dark round
09 doppelganger
10 the stix
Fans of Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy may remember that the designer of the planet Earth (Slartibartfarst) was rather pleased with his work on Norway, particularly the fjords. he must have put something in the water too, judging from the incredibly fertile nature of its music scene. This lot are just one manifestation of it.
Jaga Jazzists's debut A Living Room Hush (which got a UK release last year) won the hearts of many who probably wouldn't be seen dead in the Jazz section of your local Megatower CD emporium. Fusing 21st century electronica with airy horn parts and succint, considered solos, it was a joyful, intricate noise stuffed full of stop-start dynamics. Clever stuff, and all the more impressive when you see them doing it live.
The recipe stays pretty much the same for The Stix; interlocking brass, flutes and bass clarinet patterns thread their way through piles of shredded, hyperactive beats. Again, the melodic writing owes much to a rarified strain of jazz rock rather than anything else; Soft Machine or Frank Zappa's Grand Wazoo spring to mind. With a sound as distinctive and fully formed as this, it'd be unrealistic to expect too much change this time around, but there are subtle shifts in emphasis.
There's less improvisation; all the effort seems to have gone into creating even more detailed writing. Some pieces are almost geometric in their construction but there's always a sucker punch round the corner; Jaga Jazzist can beguile with lovely, translucent melodies then give you a swift kick up the behind. Summery acoustic guitars jostle with squirts of digital noise, arcing horns and what sounds like a solo played on a giant kazoo shoved through a fuzz pedal. It's all charged with a nervy, hyperactive energy that'll have the more mobile amongst us cutting a rug on the living room floor. Luminously, predictably brilliant.
Reviewer: Peter Marsh
4,5/5
The second full-length by Norwegian jazz enfant terribles Jaga Jazzist proves to even the most ardently pigheaded that their debut, A Livingroom Hush, was no fluke. (Jazz "purists" -- as if jazz were a "pure" music -- will even have to take note on compositional, swing, and improvisational levels but will no doubt, like any music fascist, dismiss this as somehow inauthentic because of the presence of electronics.) The Stix ups the ante a notch and foregoes much of the restraint displayed on the previous album, delving deeper into jazz motifs and the latest innovations in electronic music with a vengeance. Featuring ten original compositions by Lars and Martin Hornveth, Jurgen Munkeby, and others from the ensemble, The Stix moves into realms of ensemble interaction that cross barriers of swing, soundtrack architectures, sampladelica, and modal jazz often in the same tune. Melodic lines become riffs that give way to ensemble counterpoint and solo improvisations. Here, as on "Another Day," horns, electric guitars, looped snares, acoustic bass, strings, and an insane, treated trumpet solo offer a view from the pastoral to the incendiary in a seamless fugue of harmonic and scalar interludes. Likewise the strange sci-fi Braziliana and shimmering electronics at the heart of the futuristic bossa "I Could Have Killed Him in the Sauna" offer a futuristic view of Charles Mingus and his Tijuana Moods album if it were recorded in the 21st century. It has all the chamber pieces and the intimacy of close-distance group interplay and the expansive view of the terrain and atmospherics to offer the listener an aural view of a universe, ever present yet just beyond her reach. Once again, Jaga Jazzist have proven that the European jazz identity is a highly individualistic one and reflects different musical considerations in regard to mood, texture, and communication and a powerful set of dynamic perceptions to stand outside everything of concern and makes it human, warm, and vibrant -- all of our musically racist notions about Scandinavia are blown to bits here over and again. This music is compelling, hip, groundbreaking, and stunningly, achingly beautiful as well as challenging. The Stix needs top be recognized as one of the finest jazz records of 2003. Period.
Thom Jurek
Futurist jazz 10-piece from Norway
Frequently, Jaga Jazzist sound like Tortoise cubed. The Stix, their second album, is a hyperkenetic extrapolation of the Chicago sound; that slippery and inspiring hybrid of post-rock, jazz and electronica. Jaga Jazzists spin, though, is to remove much of the post-rock - and with it much of the ponderousness inherent in some Tortoise disciples. Instead, the liked of I Could Have Killed Him In The Saunafocus on the innovative arrangements and sophistication of Charles Mingus and Gil Evans big bands, but update
Even taking all the hype that surrounds Norwegian music into consideration, it's difficult not to be blown away by 10-piece Jaga Jazzist. Defining them, though, is another matter. More of a collective than a band, its members include rock, dance and jazz instrumentalists, who cite Sonic Youth, Miles Davis, Radiohead and Björk as influences. And it is really the collective's arrangements, rather than individual improvising, which are at the fore. In any one tune, rock basslines, clubland beats, twisted electro programming, classical strings and sweet-toned tenor saxes and bass clarinets weave in and around each other. Arrangements morph and mutate; melodic motifs meet dramatic climaxes; and listeners are carried off in a cosmic whirlwind. The key, however, is that J.J. has a big flair for melody and are aided by some fantastic musicians (particularly horn players Horntveth and Ketil Einarsen). As for The Stix, it's more futuristic than last years debut A Livingroom Hush, but no less compelling. Its 10 songs veer from the playful, sometimes reggae-like, sometimes symphonic 'Kitty Wu', to the sweet and languorous ' Aerial Bright Dark Round'. Not strictly jazz, barely definable, but weird and truly wonderful all the same.
**** Tom Barlow
Norwegian jazz heroes... stop! Come back!
Ordinarily, most people wouldnt spit on a record thats been nominated for a Norwegian Grammy. but Jaga Jazzist - a name that only non-native English speakers could devise or love - deserve more than your fear. Their jazzy flavours may be made with strings, horns, guitars and vibraphones all spliced with grimy digital noise and restless breakbeats, but the results are intoxicating. Blending Stereolabs mathematical crispness with the hypnotism of Tortoise and their own autumnal melodiousness, songs like Toxic Dart or Kitty Wu are instrumental experimentation of the most agreeable kind. A definite leftfield holiday for anyone who enjoyed Bebel Gilbertos Tanto Tempo.
**** Ian Harris
To some, the music of this ten-piece Norwegian act will sound more than a little bit like the Tortoise spin-off, Isotope 217, but Jaga Jazzist have been around longer (since 1994), and happen to be far more prolific. Further, The Stix, which was released in Europe last August, has already been nominated for a Norwegian Grammy as best album of 2002. And last year the BBC called the band's previous album, A Livingroom Hush, jazz album of the year.
In this country, Grammy-nominated jazz albums are typically drippy, "smooth" stuff. Since it's something of a concession to consider smooth jazz actual jazz in the first place, the genre's definition might as well widen still more to include Thrill Jockey-type artists that use vibes and horns and use simple melodies as springboards for improvisation. This whole Nordic awarding-good-music thing is a compelling development.
The Stix benefits from a more pronounced electronic sound than Jaga Jazzist's previous releases, adding blips and light beats to its thick mix of guitar, bass, horns (including tuba, clarinet and trombone), Rhodes organ and post-rock's ubiquitous vibraphone. Plus, the band records live, rather than cutting and pasting their records together on a computer like most people these days. This sort of jazzy, instrumental post-rock is almost never unequivocally bad; it's either pleasantly good or, at worst, boring. The Stix sounds familiar, but not redundant. It's good stuff, and a great starting point for exploring what you may have thought was a purely American concoction.
THE PHRASE “avant jazz collective” may be off-putting, but this ten-piece improv outfit confounds expectations. Combining the fluidity of freeform jazz with the dynamics of post-rock and electronica’s textural possibilities, Norway’s Jaga Jazzist have carved a niche entirely their own. The Stix is challenging, but accessible, an inventive, playful thing which skitters across territories occupied by Chick Corea, Weather Report and Four Tet, avoiding definition as it goes.
**** Sharon O’Connella
FOLLOWING on from last year‚s A Livingroom Hush, Norwegian 10-piece Jaga Jazzist have produced another album of wondrous future jazz.
For the uninitiated, Jaga are a veritable supergroup of Norwegian jazz musicians, whose live performances have earned them rare reviews all
across the Continent.
Packed with tight, constantly changing polyrhythmic grooves, pulsating horn arrangements and a total lack of self-indulgent soloing and held together by state-of-the-art production reminiscent of Aphex Twin and Squarepusher, The Stix further refines A Livingroom Hush‚s often harsh sound, adding softer, more organic feel.
The album kicks off with the gently broken drumbeats of Kitty Wu, before cranking up a notch with the drum‚n‚bass-inspired Day/Another Day, where drum machine pops and clicks are gradually replaced with Martin Horntveth‚s energetic drumming until the gorgeous repeating horn riff is finally left to stand on its own.
Other musical gems on Stix include the theremin-inspired noodling on Doppelganger, the elegant breakbeat of Toxic Dart and the rousing penultimate tune I Could Have Killed Him In The Sauna, which must surely win the 2003 „most complicated groove‰ award for its audacious stereo acoustic guitar motif.
The tune highlights the album‚s only real fault - while Jaga Jazzist are clearly musicians of the highest technical ability, at times, The Stix lacks the energy and raw emotion of Jaga‚s extraordinary live shows.
Despite this, it is an album of consummate musicianship and does contain several moments of genuine beauty - Jaga Jazzist certainly represent the future of improvised jazz music and this album is highly recommended.
Henry Scowcroft
When faced with an accomplishment such as The Stix, it would be hard not to think that Jaga Jazzist has succeeded in creating a great album. The style he’s cultivated is a tricky mix of looped drumming and psychedelic bass lines, punctuated by warm brass and synth tones. The overall effect is so intuitive and sensual that it could give artists like Amon Tobin and Prefuse 73 a run for their money. This is a release with one foot in classic jazz and the other in sonic exploration. For an instrumental album to sustain one’s attention for nearly an hour is no small feat, and Jaga Jazzist has done so with a passionate approach and inventive music.
Raphael di Donato
Peu de temps après la sortie de leur premier album "A Livingroom Hush" qui a rendu la presse unanime à son sujet, les scandinaves de Ninja Tune reviennent à l'assaut des bacs avec ce tout nouvel opus intitulé "The Stix". Si l'on pouvait avoir l'image d'une musique très pointue et de ce fait assez élitiste à la suite de leur premier impact discographique, ce nouveau long format tend à estomper cette impression...
En effet, "A Livingroom Hush" ciblait très clairement son public en mettant en avant d'évidentes influences jazz et post rock. Si la recette est quasiment la même pour ce nouvel essai, la petite troupe semble avoir mis un peu d'eau dans son vin en laissant entrevoir quelques repères rythmiques très utiles pour un public peu à l'aise avec ces deux courants musicaux ("Another Day", "I Could Have Killed Him In The Sauna"), laissant ainsi une couleur très live à cette dizaine de compositions. Jaga Jazzist est ainsi plus digeste et voit son écoute plus fluide grâce à ces quelques incursions techno ("Kitty Wu" malgré tout assez complexe), drum n'bass ("Day") ou limite electronica ("Toxic Dart", "Doppleganger"). Cependant, les scandinaves ne vont pas jusqu'à passer du coq à l'âne et reviennent à leurs premiers amours sur des morceaux tels que "Aerial Bright Dark Round" et "Reminders" ou l'improvisation aurait sûrement pu être le fil conducteur.
Jaga Jazzist reste, malgré cet album un peu plus accessible, un groupe pour oreilles averties et expérimentées. L'auditeur devra s'attendre à une forte couleur jazz, ici indissociable de la musique éléctronique, qui en freinera sûrement plus d'un. L'équilibre entre machines et hommes est parfait et ne ternit jamais le travail de ces dix musiciens. A écouter avant d'adhérer.
Matthieu
Proprio quando non ti aspetti più niente dalla vita perché pensi che con i Tortoise si sia chiuso un capitolo decisivo nella storia della musica e sia impossibile andar oltre, ecco che spunta un gruppo capace di spiazzarti e farti ritrovare l’entusiasmo sepolto.
I Jaga Jazzist sono dieci sbarbatelli norvegesi, t-shirt anonime, jeans lisi, capelli unti e facce su cui non scommetteresti un soldo bucato, che propongono una miscela esplosiva di nu jazz, post rock, drum’n’bass ed elettronica colta.
Con il precedente A living room hush, uscito per la Ninja Tune, l’intera stampa mondiale li ha benedetti come l’evento musicale più eccitante degli ultimi anni e la cosa, di per sé, solitamente mi stimola a remar contro ( fa molto cool, lo so ) ma proprio non vedo come darle torto.
Tanto per cominciare ogni canzone suona come un’elettrizzante sintesi della crema del post rock e dell’elettronica degli ultimi dieci anni: Aphex twin che remixa gli Stereolab, i Tortoise che fanno una cover di Coltrane con l’aiuto degli Autreche, gli Squarepusher che si drogano con i Soft Machine e via con una serie di esempi che rischierebbe l’assurdo.
Poi le note collimano, combaciano, si osservano e si incastrano in una sorta di puzzle vibrante che richiede un orecchio attento alle sfumature, ai dettagli, ma anche ad un ritmo che cresce nell’insieme come una piacevole nevrosi.
The Stix scotta tra le mani e vince il confronto con le orchestrazioni latine dei Koop, il soul vellutato dei Jazzanova, o il jazz filmico dei
Die neue norwegische Supergroup und neue ˆ nicht nur norwegische ˆ
Supermusik heißt JAGA JAZZIST. Konnte das von Ninja Tune nachträglich erst
vor kurzem außerhalb Norwegens veröffentlichte "A LIVING ROOM HUSH" noch ein
einmaliges zufälliges Aufflackern eines neuen, völlig entschlackten und auf
dynamische Dancefloor- und Elektronica-Füße gestellten Jazz sein (Jazz im
Sinn von Band und Improvisation, von Jazz-Rock und Fusion), so ist mit dem
aktuellen Album klar, dass das vielköpfige Kollektiv nicht nur einfach
ergreifende Musik spielt, sondern auch gleich alle Begriffe in den Mülleimer
der Geschichte tritt. Gut ist was gefällt und eingängig ist, und nur wegen
ein paar krummen Takten muss man doch nicht untanzbar sein.
Und so geht es gerade weiter: Eine Zerstörergitarre macht noch keinen Heavy
Metal, JEAN-MICHEL JARRE-Keyboards noch keine unerträgliche Soße, vertrackte
Elektrobeats in Hochgeschwindigkeit noch keinen Mörder-Drum‚n‚Bass,
Geblubber noch keinen Trance und softe Flächen noch keinen Ambient.
JAGA JAZZIST verbinden auf ganz eigentümliche Weise alles gnadenlos
Furchtbare der Pop- und Jazzgeschichte mit den Mitteln aktuellen Geschehens
zu flirrender Musik, die ständig zwischen Anspruch und Leichtigkeit,
zwischen Dancefloor und Sofa, zwischen Pop, Jazz und Klassik, zwischen
Orchester, Band und DJ oszilliert, ohne in eine der schon bekannten
Genrefallen des erweiterten Produzentenbereichs zu fallen.
Das ist unglaublich spannend, hat aber keinerlei akademische Schwere,
sondern lässt sich ganz lässig, griffig und eingängig bei uns nieder, bevor
es tief im Hinterkopf langsam zu rumoren anfängt. Diese Musik ist nicht
leicht fassbar, gerade weil sie so einfach zu konsumieren ist. Komplexes ist
plötzlich ganz einfach und die Schwere noch jeder "Musician‚s Music" kommt
hier leicht wie eine einladende Wolke am blauen Himmel daher.
So mögen wir das. JAGA JAZZIST verdienen das Prädikat "absolut whirly".
Thomas
Un bel gruppetto di 10 norvegesi, questi sono i Jaga Jazzist. Il gruppo si e' formato dieci anni fa a Tonsberg, una piccola citta' nei dintorni di Oslo, attorno al nucleo della famiglia Hornveth di cui fa parte l'eclettico batterista Martin, con la sorella alla tuba ed il fratello al sassofono. Dopo il primo LP intitolato 'A Livingroom Hush' pubblicato su un'etichetta locale chiamata Smalltown Supersound, si sono affidati alla Ninja Tunes per pubblicare il loro ultimo lavoro, 'The Stix'. Venendo all'album. Beh, c'e' tanto jazz, c'e' la batteria di Martin affiancata da una rhythm machine Akai MPC 2000, ci sono un po' di Tortoise e di post-rock, c'e' molto anche di Aphex Twin e Squarepusher. Un disco da ascoltare attentamente (un po' faticoso dopo le prime 5 tracce) o anche distrattamente lasciandosi semplicemente avvolgere dalle tracce piu' lente (come Aerial Bright Dark Round). Personalmente ho trovato piu' interessanti fra tutte le prime due tracce, 'Kitty Wu' e 'Day'. L'album e' indubbiamente un ottimo lavoro, anche se puo' risultare un po' ostico ai meno abitue' del genere. Pietro
Orchestrierte Sounds aus dem Busch
Neun Männer und eine Frau: Die norwegische Riesen-Combo Jaga Jazzist begeisterte bei ihrem ersten Schweizer Auftritt im Zürcher Jazzclub Moods. Die ZSZ unterhielt sich vor dem Konzert mit dem Drummer Martin Horntveth.
Es ist die ewig wiederkehrende Geschichte der Schubladisierung: Dem Musiker läuft sie zuwider, der Musikjournalist kann ohne sie nicht sein. Besonders im Zeitalter der sich über‘s Kreuz begattenden Stilrichtungen nehmen solche Versuche allerdings wiederholt groteske Formen an. So mündet denn auch die Frage an Martin Horntveth, Drummer der norwegischen elektronik-akustischen Anti-Jazz-Band Jaga Jazzist, welchem Genre die Musik der zehnköpfigen Truppe zuzuordnen sei in einer Aufzählung vager Begrifflichkeiten: „Moderner, neuer Jazz, Pop-, Rock- und elektronische Musik sind unsere Inspirationsquellen. Wir klingen zwar jazzig, weil wir open minded an die Musik herangehen, orientieren uns aber nicht am traditionellen Jazz.“ Auch der musikalische Background der einzelnen Bandmitglieder unterscheide sich stark. Einige hätten Musik studiert und seien veritable Multi-Instrumentalisten, andere wiederum würden über keine klassische musikalische Ausbildung verfügen. Stilistisch schlagen sich diese Differenzen in einem unkonventionellen, inspirierten Sound nieder: So findet sich etwa die nicht alltägliche Kombination von Tuba, Vibraphon und synthetischem Bass in den Stücken von Jaga Jazzist. Organische und digitale Sounds vereinen sich zu einer fremdartigen Kombination . „Ich als Drummer“, so Horntveth, „programmmiere die Hälfte des Gespielten auf meiner Drummachine, die andere Hälfte spiele ich live auf dem Drumset. Würde man die beiden Teile einzeln hören, so würden sie sich seltsam anhören. Erst zusammen gespielt ergeben sie den richtigen Sound.“ Dass dabei die Elektronik mit den akustischen Instrumenten Eins wird, ist ein herausragendes Qualitätsmerkmal, mit welchem sich Jaga Jazzist von kommunen Dancefloor-Jazz-Projekten hörbar unterscheidet. Mit diesen gemein haben Jaga Jazzist jedoch die Fokussierung auf die geschriebene Musik – im Gegensatz zur improvisierten. Dass als Folge davon die Klänge der akustischen Instrumentalisten allerdings nicht den elenden Erstickungstod im elektronischen Korsett sterben müssen, zeigte der Auftritt der Jaga Jazzist am Mittwochabend im Zürcher Jazzclub Moods. Die Kraft der orchestralen Melange aus digitaler und organischer Musik entlud sich in einem druckvollen Gig, einem knallenden musikalischen Feuerwerk. Technisch versiert und mit dem ungezähmten Drang nach Vorne begeisterten Jaga Jazzist das Publikum: Vertrackte Kompositionen ab dem Erstlingswerk „A Livingroom Hush“ und neue Tracks des in einigen Tagen erscheinenden Nachfolgealbums „The Stix“ – norwegisch „im Buschland“ – wussten sowohl die Seele des Pop-Connaiseurs zu streicheln, wie dessen Hüfte in Bewegung zu setzen. Die auf der Band-Website verbreitete Selbstbeweihräucherung, dass Jaga Jazzist typisch norwegisch, sprich: saumässig gut klingt, wurde auf eindrückliche Art und Weise bestätigt.
Matthias Daum
Le bouillonnement le plus manifeste du jazz moderne vient de Norvège, sous la forme de Jaga Jazzist, une troupe multiforme et complexe, dont deux albums, A Livingroom Hush et le récent The Stix, ont été édités par le label anglais Ninja Tune, davantage habitué aux escapades hip-hop ou électroniques.
Difficile à notre époque de faire vivre un grand orchestre de jazz. Le dernier recensé est celui de Sun Ra, toujours en activité malgré le décès de son leader, mais qui demeure une sorte d’anachronisme. Depuis les années 50, le jazz et les autres musiques se jouent en formations réduites, pour des raisons tout à la fois économiques et esthétiques. Jaga Jazzist, en alignant dix musiciens, se révèle comme un idéal compromis entre la puissance tellurique des formations allongées et les déflagrations serrées des groupes plus réduits. Surtout, sur The Stix, le groupe reprend le jazz exactement là où Tortoise l’a tout récemment conduit puis abandonné : à la croisée des chemins entre plusieurs genres.
Le son de Jaga Jazzist est ainsi plutôt loin de la tradition du jazz nordique, telle que la représente le label ECM, aux productions froides et souvent très léchées. L’écriture du groupe se situe d’ailleurs tout aussi loin de celle, totalement improvisée, de Supersilent, l’autre groupe norvégien contemporain, qui plonge ses racines dans le jazz. Les deux formations, pourtant, ont en commun la faculté de construire des paysages d’une densité émotionnelle singulière, souvent proches d’un déroulement cinématographique. The Stix comporte d’ailleurs plusieurs moments élégiaques construits autour de sonorités rappelant de vieilles bandes originales de films, souvent de science-fiction, faites à partir de bruits de synthétiseurs désuets, mêlés à des cuivres et des basses contemplatifs.
Joseph Ghosn
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