Odin Records bringen in den nächsten Wochen das bereits vor rund acht Jahren als Auftragsarbeit für das Molde Int’l Jazz Festival entstandene und in der Zwischenzeit vielfach aufgeführte Werk Maetrix von Epen Berg und dem Trondheim Jazz Orchestra heraus. Letztere bestehen hier aus Eirik Hegdal (diverse Saxofone), Kirsti Huke (Stimme), Sissel Vera Pettersen (Stimme, Altsax), Hayden Powell (Trompete), Hanna Paulsberg (Tenorsax), Hildegunn Øiseth (Trompete, Horn), Adrian Waade (Violine), Daniel Herskedal (Tuba, Basstrompete), Marianne Baudouin Lie (Cello), Rob Waring (Vibraphon), Ole Morten Vågan (Kontrabass) und den beiden Drummern Tomas Järmyr und Hans Hulbækmo, Berg selbst fungiert neben der Kompositionsarbeit als Pianist. Das Album erscheint als Doppel-LP und digital. 
“In 2016, the Norwegian pianist and composer Espen Berg was commissioned to write for the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra. With the opportunity to hand-pick a line-up consisting of 14 of Scandinavia’s most creative and prolific jazz artists, Espen grasped this opportunity with both hands and a mind bursting with ideas. MAETRIX premiered at Molde Int’l Jazz Festival in 2017 to a standing ovation, making the audience shake their head in awe. However, MAETRIX isn’t just an impressive feat, it’s also incredibly beautiful music. With MAETRIX, Espen has solidified his call to explore a kind of music where complex rhythms are paired with strong, heartfelt melodies. The name itself combines the 1999 blockbuster movie title The Matrix, with metrics. Similar to the movie, the listener can choose which reality to listen to, either intellectually by diving into the mechanical and the conceptual, or emotionally by getting carried away by the melodies and the music as a whole. The Trondheim Jazz Orchestra demonstrates yet again to inherit a flexibility and agility more commonly associated with smaller bands. Every musician add their personal rendition to the scores, transcending the music and make it come alive. MAETRIX has been performed at seven festivals and venues in Norway and Sweden, and it was recorded in Rainbow Studio, Oslo in May 2021 by Martin Abrahamsen. For Espen it has been a defining project, and many of the songs have lived on in his trio. It also laid the groundwork for Water Fabric, which was released in November 2023. As an «about time»-moment, MAETRIX will finally be available on Odin Records on Aug 30.” (Odin Records)