Biography
Jazz saxophonist and composer Marius Neset draws on contemporary classical idioms, progressive rock, and additional styles to shape his output. Observers have positioned him as heir to forward-looking jazz figures such as Michael Brecker and Jan Garbarek, as well as to the Third Stream composers who merged jazz and classical elements in the 1960s.
Born in Bergen, Norway, in 1985, Neset grew up in a musical household headed by guitarist father Terje Neset and pianist mother Anne Leni Søfteland Sæbø, both of whom saw their two daughters enter the profession as well. Early exposure came through the city’s Nattjazz festival, which awarded him its talent prize in 2004, alongside the progressive rock of local acts such as Royskopp and the classical scores of Bergen native Edvard Grieg. He began formal training on drums at age five before shifting to tenor and soprano saxophones, yet retained a percussive sensibility that continues to inform his playing.
After enrolling at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory in Copenhagen, Denmark, Neset studied with arranger and pianist Django Bates, who later served as mentor and featured the saxophonist in the big band StoRMchaser; Neset appears on the ensemble’s 2008 release Spring is Here. That same year he issued his first solo album, Suite for the Seven Mountains, on the Calibrated label. In 2010 he performed at Ronnie Scott’s in London with Bates’ group Human Chain, and he has remained based in Copenhagen.
Throughout the 2010s Neset recorded first for Edition and subsequently for ACT, frequently embedding classical references within his projects. The 2014 album Lion enlisted the 13-member Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, while Viaduct, premiered at Norway’s Kongsberg Jazz Festival in 2018 and released in 2019, combined his own jazz ensemble with the London Sinfonietta in a work he characterized as existing between improvisation and modern contemporary classical music. Tributes, issued in 2020, paired him with the Danish Radio Big Band. In 2022 he moved to the classical-oriented Chandos imprint for Manmade, a saxophone concerto addressing climate change that features the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Edward Gardner.
Born in Bergen, Norway, in 1985, Neset grew up in a musical household headed by guitarist father Terje Neset and pianist mother Anne Leni Søfteland Sæbø, both of whom saw their two daughters enter the profession as well. Early exposure came through the city’s Nattjazz festival, which awarded him its talent prize in 2004, alongside the progressive rock of local acts such as Royskopp and the classical scores of Bergen native Edvard Grieg. He began formal training on drums at age five before shifting to tenor and soprano saxophones, yet retained a percussive sensibility that continues to inform his playing.
After enrolling at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory in Copenhagen, Denmark, Neset studied with arranger and pianist Django Bates, who later served as mentor and featured the saxophonist in the big band StoRMchaser; Neset appears on the ensemble’s 2008 release Spring is Here. That same year he issued his first solo album, Suite for the Seven Mountains, on the Calibrated label. In 2010 he performed at Ronnie Scott’s in London with Bates’ group Human Chain, and he has remained based in Copenhagen.
Throughout the 2010s Neset recorded first for Edition and subsequently for ACT, frequently embedding classical references within his projects. The 2014 album Lion enlisted the 13-member Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, while Viaduct, premiered at Norway’s Kongsberg Jazz Festival in 2018 and released in 2019, combined his own jazz ensemble with the London Sinfonietta in a work he characterized as existing between improvisation and modern contemporary classical music. Tributes, issued in 2020, paired him with the Danish Radio Big Band. In 2022 he moved to the classical-oriented Chandos imprint for Manmade, a saxophone concerto addressing climate change that features the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Edward Gardner.
Albums
Cabaret
2025
Who We Are
2024
MANMADE
2022
Birds
2013
Neck of the Woods (Deluxe Version)
2012
Golden Xplosion
2011
Suite For The Seven Mountains
2008
Singles
Live
