Home » Jazz Musicians » Kjetil Mulelid
Kjetil Mulelid
Kjetil A. Mulelid has distinguished himself as an inventive artist, blending jazz, psalms, and rhythmic improvised music. He grew up in the small village Hurdal, Akershus, and started playing the piano in a early age. In 2010 he graduated from Jessheim high school where he had some really inspiring piano teachers: Ulrika Magdalena Lind, Morten Reppesgård and Jan Terje Augestad. Then he took one year at Høgskolen i Staffeldstgate in Oslo before he went to do a bachelor degree in jazz performance at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim (NTNU, Jazzlinja). Here he really learned to use the piano as his own language with the great teachers Erling Aksdal, Vigleik Storaas, Espen Berg and Eyolf Dale.
Mulelid has played concerts in Scandinavia, Portugal, Spain, Belgium, Netherlands, France, Germany, England, Ireland, The Faroe Islands, Iceland, Serbia, Poland and USA. Mulelid has played and worked with many great musicians such as Arve Henriksen, Barry Guy, Kirsti Huke, Ola Kvernberg, Eirik Hegdal, Nils-Olav Johansen and Petter Vågan. Since 2015 he has been working as a freelance musician.
Tags
Kjetil Mulelid Trio: And Now
by John Eyles
Although the all-Norwegian Kjetil Mulelid Trio has been in existence since 2016, And Now is only the group's fourth album to date. The trio's previous three albums, Not Nearly Enough To Buy A House (2017), What You Thought Was Home (2019) and Who Do You Love The Most? (2022), all released on Rune Grammofon label, were all praised on release, comparisons with pianists such as Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett and Brad Mehldau not being uncommon. They all featured the same ...
Continue ReadingKjetil Mulelid: Agoja
by Chris May
Over the course of three albums with his trio between 2019 and 2022, and the exquisitely pretty solo set Piano (Rune Grammofon, 2021), keyboardist Kjetil Mulelid has emerged as a bright new star in Norwegian jazz. His playing is vivacious, his composing melodic and his overall sound consonant but full of unexpected twists and turns. Mulelid has been mentioned in the same breath as Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett and Brad Mehldau, and the comparisons, though excitable, have some merit.
Continue ReadingKjetil Mulelid Trio: Who Do You Love The Most?
by John Eyles
In an act which might have raised a few eyebrows, Rune Grammofon released Who Do You Love the Most? by the Kjetil Mulelid Trio on the very same day as In the Mountains by the Espen Eriksen Trio featuring Andy Sheppard. Surely these two piano trios on the same label must have been competing for the same audience? However, closer inspection reveals that such speculation is likely to be wide of the mark. Firstly, the two trios differ considerably in ...
Continue ReadingTwo Contrasting Rising Stars from Norway
by John Eyles
While it is comparatively easy to reel off the names of numerous Norwegian jazz and improv stars, such lists do not convey the breadth, depth and variety of the music that has been produced in the country in recent decades, a statement that is equally true of Norway's Scandinavian neighbours. Rather than copying musical styles from abroad, Norwegian players have developed their own distinctive variants, with such ingredients as the use of folk melodies and electronics making them recognizably Norwegian. ...
Continue ReadingWako: Wako
by Mark Sullivan
Bands will often self-title their debut album, as a kind of calling card to the world at large. But doing so on a fourth album implies a serious coming of age statement: this is really who we are. That is certainly the case here. Its third album, Urolige sinn (Øra Fonogram, 2018), was a blend of composed and improvised music: a collective voice, with a rare concision and focus. This album is entirely self-composed, with the bulk of the tracks ...
Continue ReadingKjetil Mulelid Trio: What You Thought Was Home
by John Eyles
What You Thought Was Home is the follow-up to the Kjetil Mulelid Trio's debut release, Not Nearly Enough to Buy a House (Rune Grammofon, 2017), which was widely praised on its release. The line-up remains unchanged, with double bassist Bjørn Marius Hegge and drummer Andreas Skår Winther joining pianist Kjetil André Mulelid, all of them being Norwegian and products of the jazz department at the Trondheim Conservatory of Music. In addition to this trio, all three are separately involved in ...
Continue ReadingWako: Urolige Sinn
by Mark Sullivan
Wako is a Norwegian jazz collective with a truly collective sound. Saxophonist Martin Myhre Olsen--heard as a leader on MMO Ensemble's Any Day Now (Øra Fonogram, 2018)--and pianist Kjetil Mulelid--leader of the Kjetil Mulelid Trio's Not Nearly Enough To Buy A House (Rune Grammofon, 2017)--each contribute three compositions. But the group identity is equally present on the jointly created tracks that dominate this program, their third album. Opener “Jernvilje" is a brief, atmospheric rubato exercise by the whole ...
Continue Reading- "It took me several listens to fully realise just how magical this album is". - Andy Hamilton, the Wire (UK) - "So, lately, I’ve been addicted to the music of Kjetil André Mulelid" - Bird is the worm (US) - “Mulelid leads his young trio with a maturity that contradicts his age” - All About Jazz (US) - "Here and elsewhere, the pianist amplifies the material with intelligence and taste." - Textura Music (CA) - “Kjetil Mulelid is not only a fascinating good pianist who draws on music that goes as far as psalm, folk, classical and pop as free jazz, he also knows how to translate these into strong compositions” - Dick Hovenga, Written in Music (NL) - "Mulelid has carved out a distinctive niche for himself, neatly straddling the cusp between composition and improvisation and avoiding the clichés of both American and Scandinavian jazz." - Ian Mann, The Jazz Man (UK) - "Mulelid presses the piano keys, as if he could make the difference between longing and melancholy, with powerful and agile cascades, ostinate increases, pearly embellishments." - Bad Alchemy (DE) "Here and elsewhere, the pianist amplifies the material with intelligence and taste." - Textura Music (CA) "jazz piano trios are ten a penny, maybe even twenty a penny but there's something about this one I LIKE" - Jez Nelson, Jazz FM (UK) "Mulelid and his two equally young colleagues reveals timeless quality" - babyblaue (DE)
