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Nils Petter Molvaer

Nils Petter Molvær (NPM), Norwegian trumpet player, composer and producer, connects multiple music styles—jazz, ambient, house, electronic and break beats, as well as elements from hip hop, rock and pop music—and effortlessly melts them into convincing soundscapes of deep intensity.

Born in 1960 on the little island Sula (Norway), NPM was introduced to jazz from an early age by his musician father. After playing in school bands and local clubs he left Sula in 1979 to study music at the conservatory of Trondheim, where he developed his unique style and started to gain a reputation as one of Norway's emerging new talents.

His interest in both acoustic and electric music shows the ease with which he handles the conventions of pop, rock and funk, alongside those of modern jazz. These unique sensibilities soon established him as a much sought after musician in Oslo. After his intermezzo with the Norwegian jazz combo Masqualero, NPM was introduced to Manfred Eicher, who integrated him into his cast of musicians and studio sessions with ECM artists such as Robyn Schulkowsky.

NPM completed his debut album as a leader in 1997, Khmer, which focuses on a previously unknown blend of improvisation and hypnotically spinning beats, receiving extraordinary public and media response, and was honored with the German Record Critics Award and a Norwegian Grammy. ECM for the first time in its history released singles from an album. Khmer: The Remixes with remixes of The Herbaliser, Mental Overdrive and Rockers Hi-Fi was released based on the success with Khmer.

The eagerly awaited follow-up to Khmer, released by ECM in May 2000 entitled Solid Ether, intensified NPM's dialogue with club culture. The idea behind the Solid Ether concept is that a piece of music is never really finished and that composing and producing are an ever-evolving process. "'Ether does not exist, so how can it be solid? It's a paradox—like life."

NPM's album np3 released by Universal Music Group in 2002, sees him continuing the concepts that were developed through Khmer and Solid Ether by putting significant differing elements together to combine contrasting structures. A strong presence on np3 is NPM's soulful and creative use of new music manufacturing technology. "All these new tools are in themselves both positive and negative. The question is all about timing—when to stop the 'moment' and then freeze it and squeeze it." Time changes, sound changes, music changes "Being from a generation that didn't grow up with the traditional standards, this is a taste of my tradition.." To enhance the 'musical travel' experience that this is meant to be, NPM has added small ambient islands that bind the whole production together.

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Live Review

Vossa Jazz Going Strong and Poetic at 50

Read "Vossa Jazz Going Strong and Poetic at 50" reviewed by Josef Woodard


Vossa Jazz Voss, Norway March 31-April 2, 2023 Origin stories in the still-young-ish wild frontier of jazz festival culture can be fascinating case studies in feisty pioneer spirit. Take the Western Norwegian Vossa Jazz Festival, an important stop in the storied Norwegian festival circuit, which celebrated its ripe old 50th birthday this year. Its humble origins date back to the dreaming and scheming of twentysomething jazz enthusiasts from Voss, Lars Mossefinn, Arild Wærness and Asle Haaland, ...

Live Review

Palm Jazz 2021: Nils Petter Molvær & Wacław Zimpel

Read "Palm Jazz 2021: Nils Petter Molvær & Wacław Zimpel" reviewed by Martin Longley


The Nils Petter Molvær Quartet Jazovia Cultural Centre Gliwice, Poland October 10, 2021 Gliwice is in the south of Poland, not far from Katowice, or even Kraków. It has its own jazz festival, which usually spreads over several weeks, featuring two concerts each evening, in the dedicated Rynek market square venue Jazovia. This upstairs theatre has a capacity of 200, so intimate conditions prevail. Palm Jazz was founded by the pianist and ...

6
Album Review

Eivind Aarset & Jan Bang: Snow Catches on her Eyelashes

Read "Snow Catches on her Eyelashes" reviewed by John Eyles


Although they had been collaborating since the early 90s, the first recording on which the Norwegian guitarist Eivind Aarset and American-born, Norway-resident Jan Bang appeared together was Bang's Pop Killer (Virgin, 1998). In the years since, Aarset and Bang have collaborated on many more albums, but this is the first to credit them as a duo. Particular high spots in their collaborations have included Bang's album on David Sylvian's label ...and Poppies from Kandahar (Samishadsound, 2010), Aarset's Dream Logic (ECM, ...

1
In Pictures

Nils Petter Molvær at the 2018 Torino Jazz Festival

Read "Nils Petter Molvær at the 2018 Torino Jazz Festival" reviewed by Antonio Baiano


Photos from the April 29th Nils Petter Molvær Quartet concert at OGR as part of the Torino Jazz Festival featuring Nils Petter Molvær, Geir Sundstøl, Berger Myhre and Erland Dahlen. ...

Live Review

Sly&Robbie meet Nils Petter Molvær al Teatro Manzoni di Milano

Read "Sly&Robbie meet Nils Petter Molvær al Teatro Manzoni di Milano" reviewed by Claudio Bonomi


Sly&Robbie meet Nils Petter Molvær Aperitivo in Concerto Teatro Manzoni Milano 13.11.2016 Un Nils Petter Molvær, in grande spolvero per un concerto che ha incantato un teatro stracolmo di appassionati di nu-jazz e di curiosi venuti ad ascoltare il trombettista norvegese a capo di uno sperimentato combo in cui spiccavano, oltre ai fidati Eivind Aarset alla chitarra elettrica e all'elettronica, e Vladislav Delay alle percussioni elettroniche, il duo Sly&Robbie ovvero una sezione ritmica formata ...

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Live Review

Enjoy Jazz 2016

Read "Enjoy Jazz 2016" reviewed by John Kelman


2016 Enjoy Jazz Festival Heidelberg, Mannheim & Ludwigshafen, Germany October 24-November 1, 2016 Returning to Heidelberg and the Enjoy Jazz Festival after a three-year absence is still more than a bit like returning to a second home. Not just the same hotel (the ever-charming Hollander Hof, along the Neckar River by an old footbridge), which has not only managed to retain most of its staff from 2009-13, but still remembers and assigns the same hotel room ...

22
Album Review

Nils Petter Molvær: Buoyancy

Read "Buoyancy" reviewed by Karl Ackermann


More than thirty years ago, Norwegian trumpeter Nils Petter Molvær had left his mark as an exceptional improviser with his ECM Records debut on Masquarelo's Bande à Part (1985). Those beginnings--in the company of Nordic jazz legends--led Molvær to an ongoing process of nurturing his musical sensibilities across electronic grooves, club beats, jazz, and more genre-defying styles. Molvær's new quartet offers Buoyancy, a natural progression from 2014's Switch (Okeh). Geir Sundstöl on guitars and banjo and Erland Dahlen ...

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Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Nils Petter Molvaer

Jazz Musician of the Day: Nils Petter Molvaer

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Nils Petter Molvaer's birthday today!

Nils Petter Molvær (NPM), Norwegian trumpet player, composer and producer, connects multiple music styles—jazz, ambient, house, electronic and break beats, as well as elements from hip hop, rock and pop music—and effortlessly melts them into convincing soundscapes of deep intensity. Born in 1960 on the little island Sula (Norway), NPM was introduced to jazz from an early age by his musician father. After playing in school bands and local clubs ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Nils Petter Molvaer

Jazz Musician of the Day: Nils Petter Molvaer

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Nils Petter Molvaer's birthday today!

Nils Petter Molvær (NPM), Norwegian trumpet player, composer and producer, connects multiple music styles—jazz, ambient, house, electronic and break beats, as well as elements from hip hop, rock and pop music—and effortlessly melts them into convincing soundscapes of deep intensity. Born in 1960 on the little island Sula (Norway), NPM was introduced to jazz from an early age by his musician father. After playing in school bands and local clubs ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Nils Petter Molvaer

Jazz Musician of the Day: Nils Petter Molvaer

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Nils Petter Molvaer's birthday today!

Nils Petter Molvær (NPM), Norwegian trumpet player, composer and producer, connects multiple music styles—jazz, ambient, house, electronic and break beats, as well as elements from hip hop, rock and pop music—and effortlessly melts them into convincing soundscapes of deep intensity. Born in 1960 on the little island Sula (Norway), NPM was introduced to jazz from an early age by his musician father. After playing in school bands and local clubs ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Nils Petter Molvaer

Jazz Musician of the Day: Nils Petter Molvaer

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Nils Petter Molvaer's birthday today!

Nils Petter Molvær (NPM), Norwegian trumpet player, composer and producer, connects multiple music styles—jazz, ambient, house, electronic and break beats, as well as elements from hip hop, rock and pop music—and effortlessly melts them into convincing soundscapes of deep intensity. Born in 1960 on the little island Sula (Norway), NPM was introduced to jazz from an early age by his musician father... Read more.

Place our Musician of the Day ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Nils Petter Molvaer

Jazz Musician of the Day: Nils Petter Molvaer

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Nils Petter Molvaer's birthday today!

Nils Petter Molvær (NPM), Norwegian trumpet player, composer and producer, connects multiple music styles—jazz, ambient, house, electronic and break beats, as well as elements from hip hop, rock and pop music—and effortlessly melts them into convincing soundscapes of deep intensity. Born in 1960 on the little island Sula (Norway), NPM was introduced to jazz from an early age by his musician father... Read more.

Place our Musician of the Day ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Nils Petter Molvaer

Jazz Musician of the Day: Nils Petter Molvaer

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Nils Petter Molvaer's birthday today!

Nils Petter Molvær (NPM), Norwegian trumpet player, composer and producer, connects multiple music styles—jazz, ambient, house, electronic and break beats, as well as elements from hip hop, rock and pop music—and effortlessly melts them into convincing soundscapes of deep intensity. Born in 1960 on the little island Sula (Norway), NPM was introduced to jazz from an early age by his musician father... Read more.

Place our Musician of the Day ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Nils Petter Molvaer

Jazz Musician of the Day: Nils Petter Molvaer

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Nils Petter Molvaer's birthday today!

Nils Petter Molvær (NPM), Norwegian trumpet player, composer and producer, connects multiple music styles—jazz, ambient, house, electronic and break beats, as well as elements from hip hop, rock and pop music—and effortlessly melts them into convincing soundscapes of deep intensity. Born in 1960 on the little island Sula (Norway), NPM was introduced to jazz from an early age by his musician father... Read more.

Place our Musician of the Day ...

1

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Nils Petter Molvaer

Jazz Musician of the Day: Nils Petter Molvaer

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Nils Petter Molvaer's birthday today! Nils Petter Molvær (NPM), Norwegian trumpet player, composer and producer, connects multiple music styles—jazz, ambient, house, electronic and break beats, as well as elements from hip hop, rock and pop music—and effortlessly melts them into convincing soundscapes of deep intensity. Born in 1960 on the little island Sula (Norway), NPM was introduced to jazz from an early age by his musician father... Read more. Place our Musician of the Day ...

1

Recording

Spin Marvel's Infolding With Nils Petter Molvaer - Upcoming RareNoiseRecords Debut

Spin Marvel's Infolding With Nils Petter Molvaer - Upcoming RareNoiseRecords Debut

Source: hubtone PR

Spin Marvel is the brainchild of British drummer Martin France, here joined by an all-star crew of celebrated Norwegian trumpeter and electronic music pioneer Nils Petter Molvaer, bassist Tim Harries (formerly of Bill Bruford’s Earthworks), Norwegian electronic sculptor Terje Evensen and remix maestro Emre Ramazanoglu. Together they create spacious and dramatic soundscapes of profound intensity on the startlingly original Infolding, blending aspects of free jazz, ambient music and electronica in provocative ways. From the serene to the unsettling, this latest ...

1

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Nils Petter Molvaer

Jazz Musician of the Day: Nils Petter Molvaer

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Nils Petter Molvaer's birthday today!

Nils Petter Molvær (NPM), Norwegian trumpet player, composer and producer, connects multiple music styles—jazz, ambient, house, electronic and break beats, as well as elements from hip hop, rock and pop music—and effortlessly melts them into convincing soundscapes of deep intensity. Born in 1960 on the little island Sula (Norway), NPM was introduced to jazz from an early age by his musician father... Read more.

Place our Musician of the Day ...

Sienná
keyboards
Gijs Levelt
trumpet
ctraltu
trumpet
Jol Tai
saxophone
Leon Sukhodolskiy
clarinet, bass

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Snow Catches on her...

Jazzland Recordings
2020

buy

Buoyancy

Okeh
2016

buy

Switch

Okeh
2014

buy

1/1

EmArcy
2013

buy

Baboon Moon

Sula Records
2011

buy

Hamada

Sula Records
2010

buy

Mercury Heart

From: Baboon Moon
By Nils Petter Molvaer

Cruel Altitude

From: Hamada
By Nils Petter Molvaer

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