Jaga Jazzist

Jaga Jazzist’s genre-defying hybrid of styles has reshaped contemporary jazz fusion. Danny Turner questions Lars Horntveth and Marcus Forsgren on the inner-workings of their ninth album, Pyramid

- Danny Turner

Formed in 1994 when Lars and Martin Horntveth were mere teenagers, Jaga Jazzist first introduced the world to their progressive experimental jazz project with the debut album Jævla Jazzist Grete Stitz. Lauded for their originality and exhilarating live shows, the collective signed to Oslo independent Smalltown Supersound and recorded A Livingroom Hush (2002). An imaginative combination of lounge jazz, dub, post-rock and textured electronics, it was voted ‘Jazz Album of the Year’ by the BBC.

As Lars Horntveth took control of writing duties, the Norwegian ensemble maintained their unorthodox approach to multi-instrumentalism, revitalizing their sound with a spate of critically acclaimed experimental releases. Now debuting on Flying Lotus’s Brainfeeder label, Jaga Jazzist’s latest long-player, the conceptual Pyramid, saw the collective deliberately cutting themselves off from the world to focus on recording – spending two weeks bunkered in secluded Swedish woodland.

Tell us about some of your influences. One that stands out is the British band Talk Talk?

Lars: “Someone said we like Talk Talk around 2001 and that got stuck onto some press releases, but they’re just one of the bands we listen to. Jaga Jazzist has a strong influence from ’60s, ’70s and even ’80s Norwegian and European jazz, but the most inspiring people for us are those artists willing to go to different places. 20 years ago, Cornelius was a big one because he was willing to combine all these crazy different styles to see what happens.”