Multiverse by Anders Lønne Grønseth

Anders Lønne Grønseth has come out with a number of notable projects of genrecrossing nature, such as the poly-stylistic Mini Macro Ensemble, the raga-jazz quintet Bhattacharya/Grønseth/Wessel and his classically influenced duo with pianist David Skinner. With his new
quintet, the Norwegian saxophonist and composer seeks back to his jazz roots. Influences from Indian and Arabic music traditions and classical modernism continue to colour his work, but further below the surface than in his recent projects. Multiverse is undoubtfully an offspring of jazz tradition, in one of the genre’s most classic formats.
Six compositions by Grønseth provide a platform for the quintet’s elaborations, where the term “structured freedom” may best describe their way of interpretation. Very little is pre-decided; neither tempos nor grooves, barely form or order, as they maintain an improvisational approach to the material. Rather, the music springs out of the interplay between the five musicians, with Grønseth’s compositions as framework and source of inspiration.
Multiverse is the cosmological idea of parallel universes. Grønseth’s Multiverse is about the microcosmos: The individual perspectives of five musicians on the material they are performing, and how they unite in one musical output. It’s also about the possibility, idea and contrafactual principle that things aren’t necessarily what they seem to be – a simple change in perspective can truly change one’s conception of reality.
Dualism and pluralism are keywords for several aspects within the music. Songs like Parallelism, Holographic and Possible Worlds are constructed of two equivalent melodic lines spun around each other in a contrapuntal web of melodic movements. The listener may choose perspective, zoom in or out, to recognize several melodic levels at once. In Möbiusstrimmel, four simultaneous lines make out the melodic maze. Grønseth’s use of tonality stands out from conventional major and minor by the presence of several key centers at once. Holographic is based on one of Olivier Messiaen’s famous Modes of Limited Transpositions,
while Parallelism, Accelerated Expansion and Möbiusstrimmel are carved out of Grønseth’s self-developed tonality system Bitonal Scales. The effect may be a feeling of weightlessness or ambiguity, when the gravity of conventional functional harmony is challenged. Again, it’s the choice of perspective and the selectivity of the listenening ear that will determine how the music is perceived.
More than anything, Multiverse is a jazz band of five ingenious improvisors, sharing the urge for exploring and going in depth with their material, using interplay as a catalyst for taking the music to new places.

«Beautifully composed, imaginatively performed and luminously recorded, Multiverse is a winner from start to finish. » (Allaboujazz.com)

«soulful jazz of the highest calibre ... Exceptionally good album with aspirations to become a classic» (Musikreviews, DE)

«A quintet with power and class ... who in a rousing way combines controlled melodicity with quivering improvisational appetite …. The whole quintet seems as to be navigated by one unified brain.» (Jazzinorge, NO)

More:
www.andersgronseth.com
www.plingusic.no

andersgronseth.com