IS IT JAZZ? Records – first release for 2023

Aksel Røed’s Other Aspects “Do You Dream in Colours?” – will be the first release of 2023 for the relatively young label IS IT JAZZ? Records and will not leave much time to chat about the disk’s jazz affiliations. It will scream a very loud Yes within its first few seconds. Out February 17th

One of the most interesting young names within the Bergen and Norwegian jazz scene is saxophonist Aksel Røed. He’s playing with many different bands and constellations, including General Post Office and Dag Arnesen, and he is in high demand as a player.
 

With Other Aspects, Aksel Røed has put together an 8-piece ensemble of his friends from different bands, and he draws on his inspirations from the old saxophone recordings of Ornette Coleman, Albert Ayler and Pharoah Sanders, but also in the composing mind of Django Bates and Charlie Haden’s Liberation Orchestra. As he explains himself:

OTHER ASPECTS allows me to constantly drift into different directions and usually with short notice. The music is composed but not set, meaning it’s perfectly acceptable, and even encouraged to think and play outside the box. Most of the magic within the band lies in the free improvisation.  

Recorded in Duper Studio in Bergen, “Do You Dream in Colours?” is a massive piece of an album. And as a proper old jazz album, it comes with liner notes from the old Norwegian jazz veteran Knut Kristiansen.