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About Nils Petter Molvaer

Album Review

A tre anni dal precedente Baboon Moon, ecco ripresentarsi il cinquantatreenne trombettista norvegese con uno dei suoi album certamente più interessanti e riusciti. L'avvio sembra ripercorrere in verità stilemi già ampiamente noti, di una fascinosa staticità, ma fin dal secondo brano, “The Kit," qualcosa muta. La ritmica si fa più viva, pulsante, a squadernare un ventaglio espressivo che da qui in poi pare felicemente superare ciò che da sempre rappresenta un po' l'impasse della musica di Nils Petter Molvær: l'eccessiva ...

Album Review

Nils Petter Molvær: Switch

Read "Switch" reviewed by Karl Ackermann

by Karl Ackermann
June 24, 2014

From his first major recording date almost thirty years ago, Norwegian trumpeter Nils Petter Molvær has been a unique innovator with a seemingly insatiable appetite for testing new waters. Beginning with Masquarelo's seminal ECM Records debut, Bande à Part (1985), Molvær joined with the already established bassist Arild Andersen and his long-time collaborator, drummer Jon Christensen. Along with Jon Balke on keyboards and saxophonist Tore Brunborg, the quintet represented a Nordic lineup whose individual members continue to make significant contributions ...

Live Review

Nils Petter Molvaer in Benrath Forest

by Adriana Carcu
June 22, 2014

Nils Petter Molvær: Lucid DreamBenrath Forest Duesseldorf, GermanyMay 31, 2014 Nils Petter Molvær's ambient sound and light installation, Lucid Dream, was performed in Germany on the last night of May, 2014. The floating dreaminess of the music was enhanced by sound designer Jørgen Larsson and lighting/video artist Pekka Stokke. Molvær has elaborated the concept of the performance together with Beate Schüler, who was also the curator of the event. The performance, sounding the elusive territory ...

Album Review

Nils Petter Molvaer: Switch

by John Kelman
March 31, 2014

Sometimes when forced into change, the best thing to do is toss what came before and shoot for something completely different. With Stian Westerhus leaving trumpeter Nils Petter Molvær's trio after three years of extensive touring and the sole, spectacular document Baboon Moon (Sula, 2011), Molvær's career--defined, since emerging in the mid-'80s with the acclaimed group Masqualero, by a restless drive for evolution and surprisingly regular revolution--was at a crossroad. If there's anything predictable about this spearhead to a new ...

Live Review

Scene Norway 2 at King's Place

by John Kelman
December 13, 2013

Scene Norway 2 Artist-in-Residence: Nils Petter Molvær King's Place, London, UK November 15-17, 2013 Walking into King's Place, in London, England, is an experience in itself. A building opened in 2008 near King's Cross station in downtown London, it was built with the kind of foresight that is rare these days. Above ground is office space, largely occupied by The Guardian newspaper, along with two restaurants and a large, welcoming open space with plenty ...

Catching Up With

Nils Petter Molvaer: The Trumpet Does the Dreaming

by Adriana Carcu
November 16, 2013

Nils Petter Molvaer has long reached the musical excellence that places him amongst the most accomplished contemporary jazz musicians. As an early exponent of Nu Jazz, he mapped out a virgin musical territory and contributed to the branding of the Nordic Sound, today a genre in its own right, and still in full expansion. Molvaer's sonic hallmark--traced back to Miles Davis by many jazz critics, and accredited by himself to Jon Hassell--has that unique quality in which the ethereal dreaminess ...

Album Review

Nils Petter Molvaer & Moritz von Oswald: 1/1

by John Kelman
November 10, 2013

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 ...