Nils Petter Molvaer

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Nils Petter Molvær (NPM), Norwegian trumpet player, composer and producer, takes multiple music styles -jazz, ambient, house, electronic and break beats, as well as elements from hip hop, rock and pop music - andeffortlessly reshapes them into unique and dramatic soundscapes of deep intensity.
NPM was born in 1960 on the little island of Sula (Norway). From an early age his father - jazz clarinettistand saxophonist, Jens Arne Molvær - introduced NPM to jazz, although his musical diet would becomeincreasingly diverse. After playing in school bands and local clubs, he left Sula in 1979 to study music atthe Trondheim Conservatory, where he began developing his singular style, and proceeded to gain a reputationas one of Norway's emerging new talents.
His remarkable ease in handling the often-contrary conventions of pop, rock, funk, and modern jazz ensured astrong interest in both acoustic and electric music. This chameleon-like ability soon established him as amuch sought-after musician in Oslo, which ultimately led to his a colourful and diverse curriculum vitae as asideman. During his time with acclaimed jazz combo, Masqualero, NPM was introduced to Manfred Eicher, whowelcomed him into his prestigious and much-lauded roster. Alongside the three ECM Masqualero releases, NPMrecorded many classic studio sessions for ECM with artists such as Robyn Schulkowsky, Marilyn Mazur, JonBalke's Oslo 13, and Sidsel Endresen. However, NPM wanted to do something different, both in terms ofcomposition, and trumpet technique.
His debut album as a bandleader, Khmer, was completed in 1997, and showcased NPM's new direction andthe scope of his ambition. The album interweaves improvisation with hypnotic beats, using conventionspreviously associated with dance music and the electronic avant-garde to create an immediate and exciting newmusical vocabulary. Khmer received extraordinary public and media response, and was honoured with theGerman Record Critics Award and a Norwegian Grammy. So successful was it, ECM - for the first time in itshistory - released singles from an album: Khmer: The Remixes, offered now-classic remixes by TheHerbaliser, Mental Overdrive and Rockers Hi-Fi.
ECM released the eagerly awaited follow-up, Solid Ether, in May 2000. It showed an intensification ofNPM's dialogue with club culture, incorporating deeper grooves and harder edges than Khmer, but did sowithout alienating the listener or compromising on artistic vision. The Solid Ether concept is onethat has become central to NPM's output to date. Its main premise is that a piece of music is never reallyfinished and that composing and producing are an ever-evolving process. Ether does not exist, so how canit be solid? It's a paradox - like life.
Following on from the concept of Solid Ether, NPM invited like-minded artists such as Funkstörung,Bill Laswell, Joakim Lone and Jason Swinscoe/Cinematic Orchestra, to remix tracks from that album. Theresultant Recoloured - The Remix Album was released in April 2001. I like space and poetry. Thetrumpet needs space to create its own language and poetry can be minimalist and express things withprecision. The remixers on this collection create that space and express themselves in a precise butminimalistic way. They are looking for clarity, the essence of sound.
NPM's third album np3, marked a parting from ECM, and was released by Universal Music Group in 2002.This album saw him continuing the concepts that were developed through Khmer and Solid Ether,juxtaposing elements normally regarded as separate in such a way that they seemed to have always been part ofeach other. A strong presence on np3 is NPM's soulful and creative use of new music technology,especially in the area of trumpet processing. Importantly, NPM manages to do this without dehumanising themusic: All these new tools are, in themselves, both positive and negative. The question is all abouttiming - when to stop the 'moment' and then freeze it and squeeze it. Time changes, sound changes, and musicchanges. Coming from a generation that didn't grow up with the traditional standards, this is a taste of mytradition. A future tradition. Enhancing the 'musical travel' experience intended, the album ispunctuated with small ambient islands that unify the individual parts of album (including the vitriolicAxis of Ignorance and the beautiful Little Indian) as a single entity.
np3 was followed by the beautiful DVD Molvær live which showcased a live performance inHamburg, and mainly features material from Khmer and Solid Ether, although the np3 trackNebulizer appears, in typical Molvær fashion, in a substantially different form from the version fromthat album. The DVD also included interviews that allowed NPM to explain his methods and his ambitions forhis music, making it compulsory viewing for his growing fan base. As with Solid Ether, NPM invitedartists - including Bugge Wesseltoft, Funkstörung, Matthew Herbert, Clive-Lowe/Dego, Bill Laswell and MartinKoller - to remix tracks from np3, and these were released as Remakes in 2005. One criticproclaimed: Remakes confirms once again that NPM's music upholds its quality from here to eternity, andthat it is a small kingdom for the world's best sound manipulators.
At the end of 2003, NPM received the highly sought-after cultural prize, the Buddy, which is the highestaccolade a jazz musician can receive in Norway. In its decision, the jury stated: NPM has developed apersonal and distinctive mode of musical expression, and has distinguished himself as an instrumentalist andcomposer. He has one of the strongest international careers in Norwegian music.
NPM is well known for his superb live concerts, and born from his successful world tour in 2002, his firstlive album, Streamer was produced from recordings of amazing performances at London's legendaryMarquee Club and the Tampere Jazz Festival in Finland. Once again, the concept of Solid Ether re-emerges and shows how tracks that appeared on previous albums had evolved. Streamer was released in2004 and has been called a celebration of NPM's live performances and received great reviews.
Living up to his reputation as a hard-working musician, composer and producer, NPM often works with diverseprojects simultaneously. During the composition and production of his next album (ER), he producedmusic for Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts on commission from Riksteateret (National Theatre Productions). Healso produced music for the downbeat French comedy Edy, directed by Stephan Guérin-Tillié featuringthe well-known and acclaimed actors Francois Berléand and Philippe Noiret. Guérin-Tillié said The threemain pillars of 'Edy' are the two main actors and NPM's music, which plays a central role in the motionpicture. The soundtrack was subsequently released on CD.
Rikskonsertene (The National Producer of Live Performances) commissioned NPM to compose a solo performance.This composition became a creative fusion of music, light and video. NPM performed solo on stage with histrumpet, supported by digital sound, co-ordinated lighting and video designs. NPM toured Norway and someselected cities in Europe during the winter 2004 with this project to great acclaim.
NPM's next studio album was ER. This record contained a wide spectrum of musical expression: from thesoft, downbeat and low-key to the strong, powerful and epic. ER marked a new direction, built uponconcepts that had emerged from the creation of the solo performance for Rikskonsertene and the soundtrack forEdy. Despite the changes, however, ER retained a feeling of familiarity, somethingunmistakeably Molvær. More creative space was given to programmers like Knut Sævik, DJ Strangefruit,Reidar Skaar and Jan Bang: It's important to use people in what they're good at.
While vocal tracks had appeared on his previous releases, in ER they too were given more space. Thedynamic Water featured Sidsel Endresen's unique voice, singing a wordless song of dynamic intensity.In the beautiful song Only These Things Count, Sidsel's voice again leads the way, with beautifullyrestrained accompaniment from Eivind Aarset on guitar, Magne Furuholmen on acoustic piano, and IngebrigtFlaten on acoustic bass. NPM's trumpet provides layered chords as well as some beautiful soloing in thisstrong and emotionally charged ballad. Common to the eight tracks on ER is NPM's strong melodicplaying, this time with more emphasis on his superb and distinctive technique than the application of effectsand processing of the previous albums. The album subsequently won a Norwegian Grammy.
While the expectation of a third album of third-party remixes based on ER might seem reasonable, NPMinstead opted to try something more personal. Rather than sending his music out to third parties for re-imagining, he decided to re-call his own music created for films and reassemble it in a much more personaland intimate form. The result is the emotionally charged and atmospheric re-vision, a selection ofsome of his finest compositions for film. Featuring Nizamettin Aric, Anders Engen, Paolo Vinaccia and regularcollaborators Eivind Aarset, Jan Bang, and Reidar Skaar, re-vision contains a diversity of texturespreviously unheard in NPM’s music. The arrangements straddle the world’s musical genres in effortless leaps,from East to West and from North to South: muezzin calls and Armenian duduk blend into an exciting electro-acoustic melange familiar to long-time fans.
The future holds yet more exciting developments, many of which have already begun. With changes to the line-up of his live band, a planned Trilogy of albums, and more soundtracks and scores commissioned, including onefor a German film, Hannah’s Words, it is clear that NPM has every intention of making the coming yearsas innovative and productive as those that began with the release of Khmer. Comment Here =]