Who We Are

Fusions of jazz and classical music go back to the advent of jazz and perhaps beyond, and efforts to mix these two genres, which proceed from entirely different cultural roots, continue with this unusual 2024 release from jazz saxophonist Marius Neset and classical pianist Leif Ove Andsnes. There are also contributions from flutist Ingrid Neset (sister to Marius) and cellist Louisa Tuck. The compositions are all by Neset. "Apart from a few improvised sax solos," state Neset and Andsnes, "all the music on Who We Are has been composed and is played as written. What you think is improvised is mostly written notation. What you swear is improvisation is probably also written." They say further that Who We Are is neither jazz nor classical music; it is just who they are. This is plausible, but one might equally say it is both. Jazz that is partly or entirely notated has a long history, with the elegant jazz works of the late Russian composer Nikolai Kapustin being just a recent example, and the players are correct in saying that whether this is jazz or classical music ultimately resides in the mind of the individual listener. Along the way are many signposts of one kind or another, such as the flexible treatments to which quotations from Beethoven are subjected, the varied tonal language (sample the edgy Chaconne (Part 1), whose time signature is an impressive 33/16, and a truly gorgeous cello melody in the Introduction to Pragues Ballet. The latter work was an earlier collaboration between Neset and Andsnes, who clearly have struck an interesting stand where jazz seems to bump up against classical control and, from time to time, breaks out from it. This is an album that is worth hearing multiple times, for the performers do not say exactly where the improvised passages are. The Simax label contributes excellent sound in Oslo that puts the focus squarely on the playing. ~ James Manheim