“Celebrated Norwegian sax maestro Marius Neset and his compatriot classical pianist Leif Ove Andsnes unite their skills to create an exciting hybrid, composed music that sounds improvised. That’s most evident on the title track of their album, Who We Are, written by Neset, and commissioned by Andsnes for them to play at his Rosendal Chamber Music Festival. The piece, most recently played live in 2022, saw the pair working together to fashion music that exists somewhere beyond the boundaries of either the jazz or classical traditions. Just don’t call it fusion.”
“… Who We Are captures two musicians at the height of their powers and these meticulously composed pieces sometimes take both players outside their respective traditions. Marius Neset puts it best himself when he says “We asked each other: What kind of genre is this, anyway? The answer is that I have no idea, and I don’t think anyone else does, either. In any case, it’s neither ‘classical music’ nor ‘jazz’.” But it is certainly a dynamic and highly engaging exploration of the possibilities of contemporary virtuoso chamber music.”
Photo: Helge Hansen