Last week, Jaga Jazzist released the album Pyramid to rave reviews. It's been 26 years since the legendary jazz orchestra first came to Tønsberg, under the name Jævla Jazzist. Lars Horntveth is a guest on TONO's podcast, Lage Musikk.
/ 13/08/2020 / Kristian Dugstad
Jaga Jazzist has long since written its name into Norwegian music history. Last week, 26 years after their inception, they released the album Pyramid, to rave reviews.
Composer, musician and founding member Lars Horntveth is a guest on TONO's podcast, Lage Musikk. The episode is available wherever you listen to podcasts now.
In conversation with host Torgny Amdam, Horntveth opens up about Jaga Jazzist's new album, composition and band dynamics. They also talk about their musical career and Jaga Jazzist's humble beginnings in Tønsberg in 1994.
– Once and for all, where does the name Jaga Jazzist come from? asks Amdam
– At the very beginning we were called Jævla Jazzist, but then we played a concert where all the posters were just torn down. It just looked ugly in print. It was a bit violent, so we moderated ourselves to Jaga Jazzist, says Horntveth
– But Jazzist, was that a pun on racist?
– Yes, and I think it's something Ivar hatched, that is, Ravi. For some reason, there was a very large neo-Nazi environment in Tønsberg in the 90s. So the first three or four concerts we did were anti-racism concerts. Rock against this and rock against that. So in that sense, Jævla Jazzist actually worked.