Colin Stetson

A league of his own | Oslo Jazzfestival 2023

Colin Stetson’s recorded output has proven as prolific as it’s praiseworthy. Since the early 2000s, he’s gained a well-deserved reputation as an exceptional musician, known for assertive, powerhouse performances on the saxophone – chiefly bass and alto, but also soprano, tenor and baritone. However, he is similarly at home whatever the musical context, on clarinet, flute, French Horn and cornet. One might even say he operates in a field all of his own.

It was at university that Stetson first began playing regularly, “searching, reaching, and exploring the instrument” with Transmission (later Transmission Trio). It wasn’t, though, until 2007 that his breakthrough album, New History Warfare Vol. 1, was released. Ten years later, All This I Do for Glory consolidated his reputation, earning multiple nominations for critics’ Album of the Year lists.

Stetson’s nature is definitely single-minded, and his swooping, circling and soaring motifs display as much sensitivity as strength. This is something to which his striking – and diverse – contributions to film, TV and game scores also powerfully attest. As distinguished broadcaster Mary Anne Hobbs once observed, Colin Stetson is “an artist that can change the way you actually think about music.”

Colin Stetson (saxophones)

Concert starts 22:00

Doors 21:00