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Biography All Music GuideWikipedia
Group Members: Magic Pocket
All Music Guide:
Plenty of your hipper bands might vary their influences list with acts like Tortoise, Charles Mingus, and the Neptunes just to prove they are cool. With the risky, sprawling, and somehow serene Jaga Jazzist, you can actually hear it. The ten-piece jazz-meets-electronics band from Norway came to life in 1994 when their main brain and songwriter, Lars Horntveth, was only 14. Two years later their debut album, Jævla Jazzist Grete Stitz, appeared, and Norwegians got their first taste of the band's combination of jazz chops and electronic quirkiness. Two years after that the Magazine EP appeared, but it was 2001's A Livingroom Hush that grabbed all the attention due to rave reviews and distribution by Warner Bros. in their homeland. Coldcut's label, Ninja Tune, picked the album up for worldwide distribution in 2002 and BBC radio listeners crowned it the Jazz Album of the Year. The remix-based Animal Chin appeared at the end of 2002 and was followed in 2003 by Stix, an album that found the band using more electronics without the help of remixers. What We Must followed in 2005 before a five-year break took the band out of the studio and off the road. Jaga Jazzist returned in 2010 with One-Armed Bandit, featuring new recruit Stian Westerhus on guitar.
Wikipedia:
Jaga Jazzist (also known as Jaga) is an experimental jazz band from Norway that rose to prominence when the BBC named their second album, A Livingroom Hush (Smalltown Supersound/Ninja Tune), the best jazz album of 2002.
Biography [edit]
The core of the band are the brothers and the main songwriters, Lars and Martin Horntveth. Martin formed Jaga Jazzist together with Ivar Christian Johansen in 1994 while they still were in their teens, though Johansen later left the group. The brothers are also prominent figures of the Norwegian pop act The National Bank.
Jaga Jazzist nearly created a sensation with their debut album Jævla Jazzist Grete Stitz (1996), that contained playful, humorous jazz with elements of rap. The EP Magazine (1998) showed signs of the catchy, cinematic approach to jazz music they later become known for. The very young Lars Horntveth became increasingly involved in composing the music they played.
After Magazine word spread about their fresh musical expressions and energetic live shows, and the band toured extensively before they signed a recording contract with Warner Music of Norway in 2000. The highly anticipated debut album for Warner, A Livingroom Hush, was released in 2001 and consists of a melodic and energetic mix of lounge jazz, cinematic themes and instrumental rock. The producer Jørgen "Sir Duper Man" Træen played an important role during the recording, and left his mark on the disc with his crackling electronics. A Livingroom Hush won the Norwegian music award Alarm Prize in 2002 and the same year was named Jazz Album of the Year by BBC listeners.
The band features trumpets, trombone, electric guitar, bass, tuba, bass clarinets, Fender Rhodes, vibraphone and a rack of electronics, as well as strong melodies and rhythms. Talk Talk, Soft Machine, John Coltrane, Don Cherry, Aphex Twin, Stereolab, Squarepusher and Tortoise are frequently mentioned as sources of inspiration. Jaga Jazzist is widely considered to be one of the premier acts of the so-called nu-jazz movement of Scandinavia. Also, The Mars Volta cite Jaga Jazzist as one of their favourite bands. Jaga Jazzist's latest album, One-Armed Bandit, was released on January 25, 2010.
