The size of the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra varies from project to project, from a marching band able to reel off composition after composition from memory through to the full monty – a jazz orchestra in the true sense – with sections for trumpet, trombone, saxophone and rhythm. Here it performs in mid-band mode, liberally sprinkled with rising young Norwegian jazz stars. In this ambitious two-disc set Vågan’s tight compositional control holds the attention from start to finish. Full of twists and turns, unexpected references and influences, the music remains very personal, ambitious, often witty, and quietly innovative. Individual musical personalities ashine, yet it’s Vågan’s imaginative writing that is the star here. He implies Happy Endings is a party on the brink of apocalypse and, if so, it’s a fine way to go. As Vågan ruefully observes: “It’s not like there’s no hope. It’s just that every time we do something good, we elect a tangerine psychopath the next day, or someone decides to showcase their Doomsday Machine.’