Name: Balans
Brand: Harald Lassen

Bonus disc

Catalogue number

3779515

Colour

Colour details

Discogs ID

Format multiplier

Download code

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Format detail

Format Music GB

Limited edition

Release date

2023-03-24

Signed copies

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Proper

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Standard:20

UPC / Barcode

687437795152

Total Cap

3779527

687437795275

Artist

Harald Lassen

Genre GB

Jazz

Label GB

Jazzland

Jazzland is a New York jazz label that was established in 1960 by Bill Grauer and Orrin Keepnews as a companion to their Riverside Records label. Originally focused on reissuing Riverside recordings, the label soon shifted its focus to new recordings, particularly material by Cannonball Adderly.

In 1972, Jazzland was bought along with its parent Riverside label by Fantasy. Since then, the label has continued to be a prominent force in the jazz music industry, releasing exceptional recordings from talented artists.

With its rich history and dedication to showcasing the best of jazz music, Jazzland remains an influential and respected label within the genre. From classic reissues to groundbreaking new releases, Jazzland continues to captivate audiences with its diverse catalog of extraordinary jazz recordings.

Balans, Harald Lassen's fourth album, is a fascinating self-portrait of an improviser who finds freedom in a good song, a songwriter who invites listeners and fellow musicians to explore what he has created, and an artist who understands that the only valid taste is the personal. It opens with high-pitched dialogue between saxophone and band in "Liturgi / Leave Me Be" and ends with a thoughtful piano monologue surrounded by forest sounds and electronic crackling on "Impromptu Wonder". It is an album that revolves around a bittersweet melancholy that is not resigned, but accepted, and which leaves room for new faith in art's possibility to make human connections. As a saxophonist, Lassen has been influential in the Norwegian music scene through collaborations with Susanna Wallumr?d, Anja Lauvdal (Moskus, Skadedyr), American singer-songwriter Cassandra Jenkins, the experimental club scene in Oslo, ECM legend Jon Christiansen, and smart pop with No.4, to name a few. His previous album, Human Samling, was nominated for the Spellemannprisen (Norwegian Grammy) for 2020. On Balans, he brings all of himself into play - the saxophonist, the pianist, and not least the songwriter with a precise pen, who finds clear meeting points between big, romantic feelings and the more enigmatic, the almost surreal. He himself often says that he appreciates how art does not require strict adherence to conventional "meaning": It can be a place where you arrive with your luggage, and that it makes room for you.

Balans

Music GB