Leon Røsten Odyssey
DYSTODE
This is Røsten’s first album on Øra Fonogram
Release: 16. april 2021
Leon Røsten established his Odyssey in 2015, and has since released several releases and been active on the European jazz scene. For "Dystode", Røsten has hand picked a well-sounding and cohesive ensemble that met in Trondheim in 2018 on Jazzlinja. He has since lived a wandering life in several of the largest cities in Europe, and his music draws great inspiration from precisely these journeys, places, people, etc. that he has experienced. At the same time, his piano playing is clearly inspired by big jazz names such as Keith Jarrett and Brad Mehldau, something he uses in his own way to guide his Odyssey through the six tracks.
"We live in a time that is meaningless. Our days are spent making our way through a forest of impressions. Impressions that do not last more than the few seconds we let them fill the consciousness. Impressions without pause, without goal and without direction. Impressions that do not allow for a feeling of satiety and that do not give the mind peace. A lifestyle that will never satisfy the human pursuit of the polemical, the contradictory, the self-glorifying. This is where we find meaning, but this is also where we find sorrow, pain and darkness. "Dystode" means a song or ode to dystopia. During the album, we explore the darkness (and light) in itself and the world around it. We take you on a journey both in the inner space of thought and around Europe. Where moods alternate between open gentle slopes and intense and swarming trains of thought. From heavy sounds to light lyrical melodies. ” - Leon Røsten
Leon Røsten Odyssey, uses both narrow and wide brushes. The title track is dramatic and serious. In other songs, playfulness is a keyword. Elsewhere on the record, the expression is more intense, where the mind towards the world and towards itself creates intensity and will that drives the music further. The ending is cheerful, because it's better to end at the top than to end at the bottom - because life is not so bad.
Musicians:
Leon Røsten - piano & compositions
Ask Morris Rasmussen - Tenor saxophone
Oscar Andreas Dahl - trumpet
Alf Høines - double bass
Wilhelm Hestermann - drums
“Odyssey concludes this impressive album with the uplifting and driving «Something, Something»”
“Leon Røsten Odysseys uttrykk er en frigjørende og livsbejaende type jazz ”
PRODUCTION // OF 175
Produced by Leon Røsten Odyssey
Recorded in Øra Studio, 16th - 17th of January 2020 by Jo Ranheim
Mix & mastering by Karl Klaseie in Øra Mastering
Cover art by Henrik Nordahl
All compositions by Leon Røsten