London Sinfonietta

Marius Neset has spent the last two decades reimagining the sound palette of contemporary jazz. Known for his ecstatic compositional style, the Norwegian saxophonist takes a defiantly maximalist approach, placing his spontaneous horn playing alongside lush orchestral arrangements that sound like they’ve been written in watercolour. In this concert, his relentless improvisations are accompanied by the pulse and precision of the London Sinfonietta. Neset first worked with the London Sinfonietta in 2016, unleashing the dizzying orchestral sprawls Arches of Nature and Snowmelt. Calling on the illusory effect of prog-rock repetition, as well as the freewheeling harmonic changes of jazz, these pieces distort the perceived boundaries between control and chaos, observing them as one entity. Neset’s saxophone serves as a waypoint. At its most tender, it can be an anchor, pulling him into the lush arrangements built up by the London Sinfonietta. But he also uses his instrument as a point of no return. His blistering melodic lines filibuster towards freedom, escaping the contained worlds constructed in his scores. This concert also features a new piece by emerging composer Ashkan Layegh. Inspired by Persian music, Layegh’s compositions can be disorienting, like a shredded version of something traditional. He uses live improvisation to make his influences feel ephemeral - a moment in the present, rather than a reference to the past.