The Norwegian trumpeter Nils Petter Molvær is one of the best innovative musicians on the contemporary jazz scene. His compositions are the fascinating mélange of styles that change between ominous ambient sounds and hard breakbeat, along which atonal screeching sounds of guitars and spacey sound effects are combined with melancholic melodies of deep intensity. Molvær’s début album Khmer from 1997 is probably the most unusual ECM album released in the ’90s, because Molvær’s music is not eschewing the record label’s typical musical aesthetics well-known for elevated chamber-jazz. With his Khmer EP he “subverted the traditions of Europe’s most revered jazz label by the sheer force and beauty of his music, to produce an album of bold organic-electronica, recasting the spirit of Miles Davis’ ‘Bitches Brew’ for a new jazz generation and a new century.” (edit from Molvær’s website). He has recorded 8 solo albums since, for more info follow this link.
photo ©Joerg Grosse Geldermann, all rights reserved
Click photo to watch the music video Song of Sand directed by Pierre-Yves Borgeaud.
Click here to watch an extract from DVD Molvaer Live (Universal, 2001), that was recorded at his concert during the Technics Jazzport Festival in Hamburg, Germany.
www.nilspettermolvaer.com
www.ECMrecords.com
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