Home » Jazz Articles » Nils Petter Molvaer
Jazz Articles about Nils Petter Molvaer
About Nils Petter Molvaer
Instrument: Trumpet
Related Articles | Concerts | Albums | Photos | Similar ToNils Petter Molvaer & Moritz von Oswald: 1/1
by John Kelman
With the breakup of his trio responsible for the superb Baboon Moon (Sula, 2011), it's been a fair question to wonder: what's next for Nils Petter Molvær? One possible answer is certainly 1/1, the Norwegian trumpeter's debut with German multi- instrumentalist and influential techno producer Moritz von Oswald and his nephew, Laurens. The trio's debut performance at Kristiansand, Norway's 2013 Punkt Festival, while strong, was largely misleading; the show certainly occupied some of 1/1's more ethereal territory, but Molvær and ...
read moreNils Petter Molvaer: Baboon Moon
by John Kelman
While Nils Petter Molvær's last release--the first after breaking up his band of ten years--demonstrated plenty of change for the Norwegian trumpeter, he still relied on two of that group's most significant players: live sampler Jan Bang and, most importantly, guitarist Eivind Aarset, who contributed to eight of its ten tracks. Still, Hamada (Sula, 2009) began to move away from the programmed beats of er (Sula, 2005), towards a harder-edged sound--driven, in no small part, by drummer Audun Kleive's thundering ...
read moreNils Petter Molvaer: Colors, Noises and Moods
by Adriana Carcu
Trumpeter/composer Nils Petter Molvær is one of the main exponents of Nordic Jazz--a geographic ramification that has acquired, especially during the last decade, the status of an independent genre. He has created his own style by combining traditional instrumental elements with electronic sound processing: a fusion characterized by pregnant rhythmical patterns and a meditative mood. Molvær performed recently at the 2010 Enjoy Jazz Festival in Mannheim, Germany, with Food--Thomas Strønen and Iain Ballamy--also featuring Christian Fennesz, and ...
read moreNils Petter Molvaer: Hamada
by John Kelman
It's been four years since Norwegian trumpeter/Nu Jazz progenitor Nils Petter Molvær released a studio album (excepting Re-Vision (Sula, 2008), a collection of film music). When he performed at Punkt '07 in Kristiansand, Norway, it was one of his final performances with his longstanding group of guitarist Eivind Aarset, live sampler Jan Bang, turntablist DJ Strangefruit and drummer Rune Arnesen. Aarset and Bang return on Hamada, but it's a significant change for Molvær, representing a number of directional shifts and ...
read moreNils Petter Molvaer: Skeletons, Samples and Fish Fillets
by Paul Olson
There's no overstating the impact that Nils Petter Molvær's debut CD Khmer made when it was released on the ECM label in 1997. The Norwegian trumpeter/composer was no stranger to ECM and its founder/producer Manfred Eicher-- Molvær had been a member of the collective jazz group Masqualero, that had released records on the label, and he'd played on sessions by ECM artists such as percussionist Robyn Schulkowsky. With his impeccable European jazz credentials and his winsomely melodic, atmospheric trumpet playing--distilled ...
read moreNils Petter Molvaer: Hamada
by Chris May
Despite ample evidence to the contrary, for many people trumpeter Nils Petter Molvær is synonymous with understated, electronica-drenched, ambient music. The perception gets stronger the further the Norwegian's name travels from its home turf, despite his record company's best efforts. In 2006, Sula Records released the fierce, high temperature An American Compilation, partly to increase Molvær's profile in North America, partly to define it more accurately. To little avail. Beyond his core audience, the trumpeter continues to be known as ...
read moreNils Petter Molvaer: Re-Vision
by John Kelman
The music of Norwegian trumpeter/Nu Jazz progenitor, Nils Petter Molvaer, has always been cinematic. Call it music for a non-existent movie or a film of the mind, Molvaer's albums, beginning with the groundbreaking Khmer (ECM, 1997), have always been about aural landscapes evocative of highly personal imagery and plenty of club-ready grooves. Even in performance, the lighting provided by Tord Prince of Darkness" Knudsen is intended to provoke the imagination rather than focus attention on the musicians. It's ...
read more