[TR24][OF] Harald Lassen - Eventyrer - 2018 (Contemporary Jazz, Jazzland Recordings)

This is hybrid jazz improvisation, dipping into countless musical pools, creating wholly new sounds. However, leaving aside the inventiveness and will to explore unusual combinations, the album demonstrates how such experimentation can be a melodic adventure for the listener as well as the players. "I try to find a vibe, an atmosphere or a feeling. To me music is about feelings, energy, and connection between musicians and audience," says Harald Lassen. The players themselves deliver performances that accentuate and enhance the compositional journey perfectly.
Harald Lassen's saxophone can croon smoothly or bark and squeal, turn on a thread between nostalgic longing and driving futurism. The backline of Bram De Looze (keys), Stian A. E. Andersen: (bass), and Tore Flatjord (drums, percussion) do not seem like a backline at all, instead forming a unified musical organism with Lassen. They push the music forward; they change the moods and textures, taking each track to new soundscapes (particularly on the track "Ekstase").
"The idea of a band as a collective is extremely important to me", says Lassen. "I don't like the music to sound composed in a regimental fashion. It needs to be organic, to feel as easy and natural as breathing. We are human beings making music for human beings. Humans are curious and like to be surprised or taken to unexpected places. To be vulnerable and to take risks is also very human. I allow for that in my compositions, leaving space for the musicians to add own character and imagination."