While the jazz world awaits Marius Neset's imminent follow up to last year's highly-rated Golden Xplosion, here's a little appetiser that reveals a side to the young Norwegian saxophonistcomposer that was only partially visited on that recording. Neset is here in duo with fellow Norwegian tuba player Daniel Herskedal, the pair having met at the Rhythmic Conservatoire in Copenhagen where they received the guru-like tutelage of Django Bates. With compositions that are built on baroque/church-like choral harmonies, folk melodies and dance rhythms, it's a set of all originals written by both Neset and Herskedal aside from a gracefully laconic rendition of Abdullah Ibrahim's ‘The Wedding’ and the Norwegian folk song ‘Eg Er Framand’. While the album could in some ways be considered close to the airily remote northern European soundscapes that are one of the signatures of the ECM label, it has too much warmth and buoyancy to really fit that bill. When the earthy tuba pumps out a groove and Neset's rich, soaring sax improvisations float over the top (they always complement each other extremely well) it has something of the dance rhythm sensibilities of their former mentor Django Bates’ ensemble work about it. Unlike a lot of contemporary jazz, this beautifully recorded album is a celebration of pure melody.