Lars Horntveth - Kaleidoscopic

Lars Horntveth is the leader and multi-instrumentalist of a Norwegian ten-member electrojazz/post-rock/mini-bigband Jaga Jazzist. Kaleidoscopic is his solo album, where he performs with a drummer as well as members of Latvian National Symphony Orchestra, playing a long, continuous 37 minute composition. In this magnum opus one can discern less jazzy influences as could be expected of his main gig. The jazziest element is clearly Horntveth's bass clarinet work. Otherwise the composer combines influences from Bernard Herrmann style classicism (also referring to Steve Reich occasionally) as well as bedroom electronica and even folk, considering a section led by acoustic guitar towards the end. What we have is an interesting synthesis of classicism, orchestration and modern alternative music directions. Kaleidoscopic is a composition worth listening from beginning to end and it is also confirmation that Horntveth is one of the most forward thinking avatars of our current day progressive music scene.