Marius Neset: Circle of Chimes

Norwegian saxophonist Marius Neset consolidates his standing as a player and composer of real power with this vividly realised album, featuring Anton Eger on drums, cellist Andreas Brantelid, bassist Petter Eldh and Jim Hart on percussion and vibraphone, as well as flautist Ingrid Neset and the Benin-born guitarist Lionel Loueke, whose subtle vocalising acts as an additional instrument.

A mood of lyrical melancholy is set by the opening Satellite, pervaded by tolling bells and Brantelid’s cello, before Neset’s tenor sax makes its presence powerfully felt and the band really gets into its stride in the fireworks of Star. The intense rhythmic complexity of Anew

Resolution and the uproarious scuffle of Life Goes On contrast with the winsome delicacy of soprano sax and pizzicato cello in Prague’s Ballet, while the minimalist pulse and surge of 1984 precedes the closing Eclipse, initially boisterous but quietening gently into those returning bells. ■