Jaga Jazzist
What We Must

"Jaga Jazzist" is the name of a Norwegian band, composed of ten musicians, who enjoy blending jazz sounds with electronics, venturing into territories seemingly alien to their cultural background, such as indie rock. In past years, this ensemble has created albums (think of the "In The Fishtank" series), where their music intersected with that of groups like Motorpsycho.

Listening to "What We Must", the band's latest studio work, however, you realize that something has changed from this description. In fact, while maintaining in the background a notion of counter-current jazz, the music of this album strongly embraces other unusual and in some ways new sounds for the band, to the point that if we had to choose comparison terms, the symphonic post-rock of the Canadian Godspeed You! Black Emperor sometimes comes to mind. This symphonic inclination is not inherently astonishing, given the group's structure which involves the use of dozens of instruments: brass, vibraphone, bass, guitars, keyboards, percussion. Conversely, what surprises a bit more is the blatantly rock approach and the tendency to foreground the guitars, dragging along music stripped of electronics. "What We Must", based on the demo "Spydberg Sessions", indeed seems to gather and synthesize into new sound architectures the fruits of the Norwegians' past experiences through articulated, complex tracks, with an overwhelming orchestral inclination, where intricate, sophisticated, dense textures alternate, elaborated with numerous fits and progressions, favoring development over pure and simple melody.

All this makes it difficult to categorize this music, where a bit of everything really surfaces from indie rock, to fusion, to progressive in an original mix. It is perhaps more interesting to highlight the timbral alteration of the instruments, from the guitars, as already mentioned, that with numerous sounds dominate different solo parts, to the brass (clarinet, flute, trombone, tenor sax, tuba, horn) that alternate and unite, giving the idea of a "fusion" sui generis, capable of alternatively evoking Nordic landscapes and metropolitan realities. The presence of isolated vocal sections and refined rhythmic elaborations is also interesting, adding value to the ensemble. The sounds are rich in elaboration but dry in the final rendering and overall their music is at times delirious, intricate, often relentless, tense, and with an almost constant crescendo inclination. Perhaps at times it seems a bit cerebral, giving a sense of coldness and detachment, but it is always impactful and ultimately the listening, though not immediate, delivers many sensations. Indeed, each time it manages to offer something new, even managing to be disconcerting. This, quite honestly, reassures me because it confirms the existence of musicians capable of surprising their audience, never satisfied and always searching for new paths, perhaps not easy to follow, but certainly always intriguing and suggestive.