Trondheim Jazz Orchestra & Ole Morten Va — Happy Endings
Traditional big band fans should enjoy the bombastic power and precise musicianship of the full ensemble, but will likely find the music difficult and confusing. The most clearly composed sections are odd metered, assymmetrical unison figures as found in the most dissonant and austere of prog rock (bands like Magma or Guapo) or mid 20th century classical avant garde like Bartok or Copland. Dauntingly frequent use of time shifts create the sense that each measure is a puzzle piece of unique shape. The groove of the music is the gait of a 17 legged monster.
The horn section delivers many a satisfying punctuated stab, recalling vintage noire soundtracks. The chaotic, high energy drive of the music would befit a chase scene.
At calculated moments, the top heavy beat comes careening down, dissipated into free rhythm miasma and eerie harmonic tension, each note another question rather than an answer. While there are melodies and ambiguously expressive bits, discerning the feeling of this piece is akin to perceiving one's face in a shattered mirror. Perhaps the emotion of the music is best described as the sort of offputting surprise one feels upon seeing an insect or fungus which is so alien and unfamiliar that it causes simultaneous fascination, shock and revulsion.
This sense of awe at the bizarre and formidable spectacle unfolding before oneself was a lot of what made Magma such a notable band, and I would say they are the closest touchstone for the sound of this record. The use of wordless female voice to strike eerie dissonant intervals is especially characteristic of the 70's psychedelic science fiction culture Magma derived from. Ultimately, I must say this ensemble travelled even deeper into the madness of intentional illogic and technicality than Magma, as there is rarely a 'riff' to latch onto.
The sheer density of notes written for this record is second to none; if you're one of those fiends for complexity who prefers each 30 successive seconds to be a masterpiece of tiny unique details and unexplored possible directions, this is the album for you. The stamina and presence of mind required to perform these agile, uneven figures is truly beyond. Like the most elaborate classical pieces, the orchestrated ebb and flow is so unpredictable and organic as to be impossible to remember until the 100th listen. Fleeting fragments of thought emerge and quickly disappear, hinting at a thousand songs and styles from throughout history.
For fans of dark and disorienting but highly structured jazz, this cosmic odyssey of an album is the holy grail. Rather than eschewing tonality and meter entirely, this is that rare ambitious piece of work that strives to claim the realm of fringe possibilities, to write new rules to replace the tired old ones, to imagine fictional alien cultures when all the traditional forms of Earth have given their last. There is a world, an eternity of thought present in this recording, the trouble lies in accessing it.
Surely, many will find this recording too offputtingly angular and non-linear. Each promise of tunefulness will inevitably be swallowed by that convoluting mathematical engine, the spectre of compositional overthought. Perhaps, rather than presenting this kaleidoscope of possibilities, they should have settled upon one or two? It's up to you to decide. Personally, I am astounded by the restless brilliance of Happy Endings.