This Chandos release by saxophonist Marius Neset, with Edward Gardner leading his increasingly versatile Bergen Philharmonic, is one of those albums with a dual mission. "MANMADE," Neset indicates in a note, "is a concerto for saxophone and symphony orchestra in which the form and the structure are inspired by the climate change which our times are experiencing." The five movements depict the inventors Einstein and Alfred Nobel (whose movement seems more representative of general chaos than of a dynamite blast), the Apollo ...
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This Chandos release by saxophonist Marius Neset, with Edward Gardner leading his increasingly versatile Bergen Philharmonic, is one of those albums with a dual mission. "MANMADE," Neset indicates in a note, "is a concerto for saxophone and symphony orchestra in which the form and the structure are inspired by the climate change which our times are experiencing." The five movements depict the inventors Einstein and Alfred Nobel (whose movement seems more representative of general chaos than of a dynamite blast), the Apollo moonshot, and two phases of Creation. This blurb-friendly idea is what's been picked up in publicity for the album, but there's another aspect that's arguably more interesting, namely that Neset revives the old Third Stream genre that fuses aspects of classical music and jazz without really being one or the other. The notes delve into the history of that genre and specify no fewer than six possibilities for the solo saxophone part, including straight notation and five types of...
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