El álbums de las frutitas. Es raro que los Jaga Jazzist (una pequeña orquesta de músicos de jazz, rock y electrónica) no hayan aterrizado antes en el blog cabezón. Otra vez unos noruegos zambulléndose en el mundo del jazz fusión, para traernos los mejores sonidos que se hacen en la actualidad en ese estilo; jazz fusion moderno, épico, cinemático, con composiciones y arraglos realmente muy interesantes, una rica instrumentación, dando una música instrumental con muchos músicos y muchos instrumentos diferentes, con un resultado encantador, feliz, humilde y memorable. Una experiencia musical agradable, divertida, totalmente disfrutable y entretenida, además de una novedosa exploración desde el jazz. ¿Hace falta algo más?...
Artista: Jaga Jazzist
Artista: Jaga Jazzist
Álbum: One-Armed Bandit
Año: 2009
Género: Jazz Rock / Fusion
Duración: 53:27
Nacionalidad: Noruega
Año: 2009
Género: Jazz Rock / Fusion
Duración: 53:27
Nacionalidad: Noruega
Lista de Temas:
1. The Thing Introduces...
2. One-Armed Bandit
3. Bananfluer Overalt
4. 220 V / Spektral
5. Toccata
6. Prognissekongen
7. Book Of Glass
8. Music! Dance! Drama!
9. Touch Of Evil
1. The Thing Introduces...
2. One-Armed Bandit
3. Bananfluer Overalt
4. 220 V / Spektral
5. Toccata
6. Prognissekongen
7. Book Of Glass
8. Music! Dance! Drama!
9. Touch Of Evil
Alineación:
- Andreas Mjøs / vibraphone, guitar, Korg MS-10, marimba, glockenspiel, crotales and percussion
- Martin Horntveth / drums, drum-machines, percussion, bulbul tarang, Marxophone, mandolin harp, psaltery, bells, temple blocks, spike piano and programming
- Lars Horntveth / guitar, clarinet & bass clarinet, tenor, soprano & baritone saxophone, flute, Roland SH-2, keyboards, piano, lap steel guitar, EBow banjo and programming
- Stian Westerhus / electric, baritone & 12-string guitar, harp, effects and percussion
- Line Horntveth / tuba, flute, percussion glockenspiel and vocals
- Even Ormestad / bass, keyboards, glockenspiel and percussion
- Erik Johannesen / trombone and Marxophone
- Mathias Eick / trumpet, upright bass, keyboards, piano and French horn
- Øystein Moen / synthesizers, piano, organ and percussion
Additional sounds:
- Jørgen Træen / Korg MS-20 and additional programming
- John McEntire (Tortoise) / analog synth processing
- Jim Baker / ARP synthesizer (5, 6)
The Thing:
- Mats Gustafsson / baritone saxophone (1)
- Ingebrigt Håker Flaten / upright bass (1)
- Paal Nilssen-Love / drums (1)
- Andreas Mjøs / vibraphone, guitar, Korg MS-10, marimba, glockenspiel, crotales and percussion
- Martin Horntveth / drums, drum-machines, percussion, bulbul tarang, Marxophone, mandolin harp, psaltery, bells, temple blocks, spike piano and programming
- Lars Horntveth / guitar, clarinet & bass clarinet, tenor, soprano & baritone saxophone, flute, Roland SH-2, keyboards, piano, lap steel guitar, EBow banjo and programming
- Stian Westerhus / electric, baritone & 12-string guitar, harp, effects and percussion
- Line Horntveth / tuba, flute, percussion glockenspiel and vocals
- Even Ormestad / bass, keyboards, glockenspiel and percussion
- Erik Johannesen / trombone and Marxophone
- Mathias Eick / trumpet, upright bass, keyboards, piano and French horn
- Øystein Moen / synthesizers, piano, organ and percussion
Additional sounds:
- Jørgen Træen / Korg MS-20 and additional programming
- John McEntire (Tortoise) / analog synth processing
- Jim Baker / ARP synthesizer (5, 6)
The Thing:
- Mats Gustafsson / baritone saxophone (1)
- Ingebrigt Håker Flaten / upright bass (1)
- Paal Nilssen-Love / drums (1)
Una colección de música deliciosa, en su mayoría melódica y optimista, la música de esta banda noruega es extrañamente soleada y cálida, no muy complejo por cierto, en la onda de algunas obras de Bill Bruford y las proezas orquestales de principios de los años 70 de Frank Zappa, con instrumentos tan diversos como la tuba, vibráfono, clarinete, trompeta, mandolina, banjo y varios otros que se combinan con una guitarra eléctrica que a veces se separan de esta mini orquesta, ejecutando pequeños fraseos y elegantes solos en miniatura, en general las guitarras son siempre limpias y en su mayor parte desempeñan un papel de apoyo al conjunto. La música suena muy ligera y es de fácil acceso, todo suena fresco y agradable, melodías jazzísticas explorando regiones psicodélicas y música electrónica para crear un sonido único, moderno, con melodías pegadizas y edificantes y una sensación muy rica y cálida, generando una experiencia gratificante.
El álbum, por lo que parece en el diseño de la gráfica, parece estar inspirado en distintos tipos de frutas, produciendo sonidos estimulantes y dinámicos, yo diría que deben tener mucho jugo de uva fermentada porque el resultado es embriagador (que sea tinto por favor), sin embargo, hay algunas melodías muy finas dando vueltas aquí y allá, aunque tal vez el disco no sea los suficientemente diverso y puede llegar a cansar rápido, siempre es edificante y agradable, con algunos momentos muy dinámicos y enérgicos, "One-Armed Bandit" es un gran ejemplo de música brillante, accesible y armoniosa puede ser también fresca e interesante, con toques electrónicos que dan un aire moderno a su sonido y el espíritu de Philip Glass e incluso el minimalismo de Steve Reich presente en muchas ocasiones, algún aire a Tortoise y hasta algún toque de post-rock pero sin salir de su estado de ánimo positivo y alegre.
Este disco está lleno de energía, de la buena energía, y bastantes riesgos, totalmente instrumental, esta es una música para renovarse con un buen estado de ánimo. El álbum es bastante coherente en su sonido, cada pista tiene su propia escencia y vibración, cada canción está compuesta como una unidad y toda improvisación se establece alrededor de una estructura específica para esa melodía.
Poco conocidos por estas pampas, en realidad la banda se ha hecho bastante conocida en algunos círculos desde su impresionante disco debut, hace ya cerca de una década y media (no lo recuerdo con exactitud y no tengo ganas de buscarlo), y luego de otros discos donde deambularon tratando de ampliar su exploración sonora de manera poco efectiva (lo dice el dicho, quien mucho abarca poco aprieta) vuelven a un estilo parecido a aquel que los viera nacer. La verdad es que les perdí el rastro luego de este trabajo, así que no sé qué será de ellos en estos momentos. Al que le interese, lo puede averiguar y me cuenta en un comentario.
Todo aquí suena limpio, cristalino, cálido y juguetón, equilibrado en una línea suave y elegante por un lado y por el otro brillante y dulcemente melodioso. Es difícil encontrar fricción aquí, todo es encantador, calmante, refinado y disfrutable. Y quizás ese sea su mayor defecto, porque todo aquí es demasiado "educado" y pintoresco pero falta algo sanguíneo para poner más pasión a su cálida y vibrante riqueza. Digamos que podría ser el elemento que le falta para ser un trabajo superior... Pero siempre es muy creativo y eso es excitante y se agradece, "One-Armed Bandit" es un disco mucho más que interesante, quizás no para todas las personas, claro... pero en definitiva ¿qué disco lo es?...
Pueden escuchar el disco desde su espacio en Bandcamp.
Claro, también lo pueden comprar, y también pueden seguir chusmeando por los otros discos disponibles en ese espacio.
Y ahora que lo pienso, tal vez éste disco sea el álbum más sorprendente de rock instrumental de principios de 2010... ¿cual otro se le podría comparar en cuanto a lo sorprendente?... no sé, pero en cualquier caso, la banda ha demostrado ser muy creativa y que tiene un inmenso talento. Lo demás creo que son subjetividades. Pero lo que no es subjetivo es que los Jaga Jazzist parecen ser una de las pocas bandas dispuestas a dar una nueva forma al jazz.
Asombroso y original.
Punto...
En definitiva, un hermoso trabajo de una banda muy talentosa!
Les dejo ahora algunos (pocos) comentarios en inglés, no porque no haya más sino porque estos dos son de muy buena calidad y no hace falta más nada.
The ambitious Norwegian band with a hard-to-define jazz/ post-rock sound returns with another eclectic album.
Jaga Jazzist, a nine-piece Norwegian ensemble, is among the leadings lights of the new Scandinavian jazz, but their sound resonates strongly with North American-style post-rock, too. Woodwinds, brass, and a Fender Rhodes often carry Jaga's melodies, but electric guitars hold the line just as often. Their percussion, while intricate, is always brawny and propulsive. Their music is structured as to allow for a broad variety of genre allusions, from classical to krautrock. And it revels in tension and release, albeit with more instrumental dexterity than many post-rock bands can muster. Each of their albums seems like a new negotiation between art music and pop music, as if they still aren't sure which kind of band they are, and how much they can get away with on either side.
Jaga's last LP, 2005's What We Must, was excellent in part because it felt unequivocal-- it was Jaga Jazzist being a rock band, without compunction. Many of its most thrilling qualities are retained on One-Armed Bandit. The floaty UFO themes from bandleader Lars Horntveth's Kaleidoscopic are present in force, and some less-standard Jaga elements-- tropical polyrhythms, modernist patterns, and even techno-inspired synth sequences-- make their sound heartier than before. They also make it more diffused, and the new album lacks the emphatic clarity of What We Must. It's clinically better, but slightly less loveable, emphasizing virtuosity at the occasional expense of immediacy.
Sometimes, like Jon Hassell's good-despite-itself 2009 album, Last Night the Moon Came Dropping Its Clothes in the Street, it just gets a little too swanky for comfort. The thumping bass and woodwind grooves are usually pleasing, but occasionally slide into mildly numbing, session-honed clichés. At these times, you get the sense that the band can churn out rock-solid modulations all day, which is admirable but not that exciting. And sometimes, they just try to do too much, although this becomes egregious only once in a while: "220 V / Spektral" starts off great, with chimes and tiny pianos and guitars trickling in smart little trills. But this arrangement barely has time to shape up before it breaks into a jazzy lope, then bends krautward with acidic guitar chords, swoops down into spacey funk, rocks out, krauts up again... you see how this is going too far, too fast. We can't keep up, and the band seems so focused on their chops they probably don't even notice we're panting in the dust cloud behind them.
But when the variations are more subtle and less blatantly showy, they're terrific. On the title track, questing horn lines unravel around a dancing, medieval-sounding arpeggio, which later reappears voiced more like a kalimba, with the rolling bass now in the forefront, lean with distortion. Seamlessly, the back becomes the front and the front, the back. Then there's a galloping quick-time bridge, with slow peals of brass prefiguring a crashing climax, which verges on a free-jazz shriek. All these prismatic refractions point to one clear, climbing shape-- a song you can hold onto, even as its surface morphs and streams. On "Bananfleur Overalt", the interludes of terse funk and pounding minimalism keep bringing us back to the wonderfully songful theme. And on the long "Toccata", a taut weave of hypnotic synth tones brightens with natural piano sounds, culminating with righteously skipping horns-- a somehow-straight line between cerebral shimmer and spiritual fire. One-Armed Bandit occasionally overshoots the mark, but when it doesn't, the scenic route it took to get there proves worthwhile.
After a five-year break from recording, Jaga Jazzist is back. The Norwegian group's Molde Jazz 2009 performance—its first in four years, barring a single 2007 date in Singapore—provided clear evidence that the touchstones defining this sibling-run group remain intact (multi-instrumentalist Lars Horntveth writes all the music; percussionist Martin Horntveth is the onstage spokesperson for the band; and sister Line Horntveth, in addition to tuba, flute and vocals, acts as the publicity face for the group). But there have been some changes afoot as well. Performing much of One-Armed Bandit at Molde, Jaga Jazzist's mélange of rock energy, jazz vernacular, minimalistic tendencies, episodic composition, expansive instrumentation and electronic manipulation has never sounded better. Not since 1970s British progsters Gentle Giant has there been a group combining so many multi-instrumentalists, playing music so complex and ever-shifting that it's a paradoxically exhausting yet exhilarating experience just trying to keep up with who's playing what.John Kelman
The comparison to Giant is superficial at best, though Jaga Jazzist shares its ability to couch detailed writing with visceral rhythms that ground even the most byzantine tracks. This may be music for the mind in its challenging metric shifts, elaborate counterpoint and textural expansiveness, but it's also music for the body. Even as trumpets, trombones, saxophones and tuba coincide and alternate with angular guitars, vibraphones, harps and keyboards, it's almost impossible to experience propulsive tracks like the riff-driven, near-blues of "Bananfleur Overalt" or the Frank Frank Zappa-esque title track—even the irregularly metered "Music! Dance! Drama!"—without engaging in a little booty shaking.
There have been some personnel shifts in the group, even as it trims down from the tentet of What We Must (Ninja Tune, 2005) to One-Armed Bandit's leaner nonet. Most significant is the recruitment of guitarist/harpist/percussionist Stian Westerhus, who returned to Norway after a number of years abroad and has done a terrific job of finding his way into everything from the big band free improv of Crimetime Orchestra and Monolithic's equally extreme Black Science (Vendlus, 2009) to his beautifully packaged solo LP, Galore (2009), on Rune Grammofon's The Last Record Company imprint. He plays far more arrangement on One-Armed Bandit than he did in performance at Molde; a sonic explorer who lends a vital new edge to Jaga Jazzist.
But longstanding JJ'ers, including vibraphonist/marimbist/guitarist/keyboardist Andreas Mjøs and trumpeter/bassist/keyboardist/French hornist Mathias Eick—whose own career as a leader has been on an upward trajectory since the release of The Door (ECM, 2008)—keep momentum and color moving forward on tracks like the synth-laden, densely guitar-driven "220 V/Spektral" and tuned percussion-heavy "Toccatta," which suggests how Philip Glass might sound, were he to add a kick-ass drummer to the mix.
Jaga Jazzist's international success has been something of a remarkable confluence, but proves that music needn't be dumbed down to find an audience. With the unfailingly exciting One-Armed Bandit, Already brilliant, Jaga Jazzist continues to make music as deep as it is danceable, with a revised line-up that will no doubt get even better with more touring under its belt. And that's a scary prospect.
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