In 2016, the Norwegian pianist and composer Espen Berg was commissioned to write for the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra. With the opportunity to hand-pick a line-up consisting of 14 of Scandinavia’s most creative and prolific jazz artists, Espen grasped this opportunity with both hands and a mind bursting with ideas. MAETRIX premiered at Molde Int’l Jazz Festival in 2017 to a standing ovation, making the audience shake their head in awe. However, MAETRIX isn’t just an impressive feat, it’s also incredibly beautiful music.
With MAETRIX, Espen has solidified his call to explore a kind of music where complex rhythms are paired with strong, heartfelt melodies. The name itself combines the 1999 blockbuster movie title The Matrix, with metrics. Similar to the movie, the listener can choose which reality to listen to, either intellectually by diving into the mechanical and the conceptual, or emotionally by getting carried away by the melodies and the music as a whole.
The Trondheim Jazz Orchestra demonstrates yet again to inherit a flexibility and agility more commonly associated with smaller bands. Every musician add their personal rendition to the scores, transcending the music and make it come alive. MAETRIX has been performed at seven festivals and venues in Norway and Sweden, and it was recorded in Rainbow Studio, Oslo in May 2021 by Martin Abrahamsen. For Espen it has been a defining project, and many of the songs have lived on in his trio. It also laid the groundwork for Water Fabric, which was released in November 2023. As an «about time»-moment, MAETRIX will finally be available on Odin Records on Aug 30.
*** BIO ***
In 2016, I was awarded a scholarship and got the opportunity to write for the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra. I hand-picked this unique line-up consisting of my favourite Scandinavian musicians and wrote the music specifically for each andevery one of them, knowing that they would add their personal rendition to it and make the parts come alive.
What makes the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra particularly outstanding as an ensemble is that it’s practically a collective of soloists, composers and band leaders varying from project to project, who easily master all kinds of music ranging from the structural to the free. Knowing this made it possible to explore and experiment in the same way as I do in smaller bands.
MAETRIX marks my first ambitious, grand-scale project, which I grasped with both hands and a mind bursting with ideas. I wanted to explore a kind of music where complex rhythmic concepts are paired with strong, heartfelt melodies to enable listening on many different levels.
The illustrations on the front cover of this LP are a graphical representation of these concepts. I made one illustration for each track in the order of the tracklist from left to right, with the exception of Climbing, which is structurally identical to XIII. The process of creating MAETRIX was indeed challenging, but also highly rewarding. In would like to thank all of the musicians for their dedication and for transcending my music.
Espen Berg, Trondheim May 2024
***
MAETRIX – TRONDHEIM JAZZ ORCHESTRA & ESPEN BERG
formats: 2LP / DL
label: ODIN
release date: 30th August 2024
cat. no:. ODINLP9595
Tracklist:
A1 Artemix + Cadae [21:34]
B1 XIII [09:37]
B2 Bølge [12:50]
C1 Zipline [07:05]
C2. Maetrix [13:44]
D1 Climbing [05:55]
Line up:
Espen Berg – piano, compositions
Eirik Hegdal – soprano and baritone saxes
Kirsti Huke – voice
Sissel Vera Pettersen – alt sax, voice
Hayden Powell – trumpet
Hanna Paulsberg – tenor sax
Hildegunn Øiseth – trumpet, goat horn
Adrian Waade – violin
Daniel Herskedal – tuba, bass trumpet
Marianne Baudouin Lie – cello
Rob Waring – vibraphone
Ole Morten Vågan – upright bass
Tomas Järmyr – drums
Hans Hulbækmo – drums
Recorded in Rainbow Studio, Oslo, May 2021 by Martin Abrahamsen Additional recordings in Øra Studio, Trondheim, March 2023 by Kyrre Laastad Mixed in Øra Studio, Trondheim, March 2023 by Kyrre Laastad
Mastered at Øra Mastering, Trondheim, March 2023 by Karl Klaseie
Produced by Espen Berg, Ole Morten Vågan and Eirik Hegdal