MARIUS NESET-saxophones
DJANGO BATES piano, keyboards
JASPER HØIBY double bass
ANTON EGER drums
TRACKORDER:
1. INTRODUCING GOLDEN XPLOSION
2. GOLDEN XPLOSION
3. CITY ON FIRE
4. SANE
5. OLD POISON (XL)
6. SHAME US
7. SAXOPHONE INTERMEZZO
8. THE REAL YSJ
9. SAXOPHONE INTERMEZZO II
10. ANGEL OF THE NORTH
11. EPILOGUE
REVIEWS:
“Golden Xplosion is a wonderful album! An album where the musicians is pushing it as far as it can go , and give us saxophone-jazz of the highest class. Recommended!” JAZZNYT
Getting on to Django Bates’s favourite-sax list isn’t easy (it spans Charlie Parker to Evan Parker, with Iain Ballamy in the middle), but his star pupil at the Copenhagen Rhythmic Music Conservatory, 25-year-old Norwegian saxophonist Marius Neset, is there already. Neset’s imminent second album is a showcase for his virtuosity and genre-crunching openness”. GUARDIAN
ABOUT ‘GOLDEN XPLOSION’
Marius Neset? Better get used to saying it – this is a name you’re going to hear a whole lot more. This astonishingly gifted 25 year old saxophonist and composer is releasing his second solo album on Edition Records and it will simply blow you away.
Golden Xplosion will tell you much about Marius Neset. It will tell you that here is one of the tenor masters of the future – his solo spot on Old Poison (Lex) and the interplay Shame Us between Neset and Høiby on recall the great Joe Henderson. What a fantastic rhythm player he is! It takes most players years to get that kind of flow but Neset has it already. State of The Tenor? You better bet.
Golden Xplosion, also the title of Marius’ band, features one of the hottest quartets anywhere. Pianist Django Bates barely needs an introduction. The names Delightful Precipice, Human Chain, Loose Tubes and now StoRMChaser, Django’s latest project, will suffice. His playing here lends Golden Xplosion an orchestral quality and the textures he adds even on acoustic piano are just gorgeous. A member of Loop Collective, bassist Jasper Høiby’s own Edition CD with Phronesis was one of the most successful British Jazz Albums of 2010. Swedish drummer Anton Eger is another astonishing young musician with great time and explosive power yet capable of great subtlety too. Just listen to his brushwork on Sane.
But Golden Xplosion also reveals what a fine composer Marius Neset is. The tricky time signatures on the title track may suggest Frank Zappa but they’re not just for effect but to create a remarkable piece of music. Saxophone Intermezzo II is rich in atmospherics – imagine if Ellington had written Prelude To A Kiss in 2008 rather than 1938, it might just sound like this. Perhaps best of all is Angel Of The North. Its near-Baroque opening leads into an almost martial rhythm through pastoral keyboards to build to an anthemic climax.
Just 25 years old – nobody should be this talented.
No two ways – Golden Xplosion is going to blow you away.
