| Jazz |
It all begins in the style of a film score; it’s true that the saxophonist Marius Neset loves immersing the listener in mysterious, thrilling, or vibrant atmospheres on each of his albums. You need to take the time to immerse yourself in his world to appreciate every detail. This album is no exception to the rule and is certainly not for an uninitiated audience, at the very least, one must have a grasp of the intricacies of “classical” music or jazz.
The beauty of a musical composition without compromise, intellectually remarkable, with an ambiance reminiscent of American film noir from the 1950s, but with a 21st-century sound. It’s a delight to explore track by track with most titles exceeding 7:30 minutes. Regardless, each piece that makes up Geyser is a story, an adventure, a range of diverse and varied emotions, traveling through various imaginary lands. There’s no time to get bored, just the hope that Geyser can perform on stages around the world because it’s music meant to be experienced live.
The lineup includes: Marius Neset/ tenor and soprano saxophones, Ivo Neame/ piano, Jim Hart/ vibraphone/ marimba/ percussion, Conor Chaplin/ double bass, Anton Eger/ drums, and the London Sinfonietta conducted by Geoffrey Paterson.
It’s important to acknowledge all these artists who fully immersed themselves in this adventure. One can’t help but imagine the long hours of work that went into achieving such an impressive result. You can even feel the artistic complicity among the musicians, who at no point take shortcuts or try to make this highly perilous exercise of merging two musical styles easier. Concerning Marius Neset, The Guardian places Neset among the greatest current jazz discoveries, possessing “the power of a Michael Brecker and the sophistication of a Jan Garbarek.” In reality, Marius Neset, since his beginnings, is self-sufficient, impressing with his ability to assert his style no matter the musical context that surrounds him. When it comes to saxophonists in Europe, there are only two artists with this ability and genius: Marius Neset, of course, and Céline Bonacina, whose latest album “Jump” has also been praised by the international press.
As my late friend Leo Ferré used to say, “Mus es ein, es mus ein!” It’s too easy to bestow the distinction of Bayou Blue Radio and Paris Move’s editorial teams on such an album by labeling it as “Indispensable” because it simply cannot be otherwise.
Thierry De Clemensat
USA correspondent – Paris-Move
Editor in chief Bayou Blue Radio, Bayou Blue News
PARIS-MOVE, October 13th 2023
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