Nils Petter Molvær

"Khmer"

Born in 1960 in Sula, a small island off the North-West coast of Norway, Molvær was introduced to music at an early age by his father, a renowned jazz musician. By the age of 13 he was playing in various pop and rock bands in local venues and dance halls. During this time he played a number of instruments - bass, drums, keyboards - before finally settling for the trumpet. In 1979 Molvær left Sula to study at Trondheim Conservatory of Music, where alongside his contemporaries he started to get noticed, and in 1981, after two years of studies, he dropped out and moved to Oslo to become a professional musician. At this point, Molvær had developed a distinct sound and style of playing and was much sought after by leading Norwegian groups and as a guest on other artists' records. Molvær has eclectic musical influences who he names as Miles Davis, Don Cherry, Billie Holiday, Brian Eno, Joni Mitchell and Bill Laswell. His interest in both acoustic and electric music shows in the ease with which he handles the conventions of pop, rock and funk, alongside those of modern jazz, enabling him to play with fellow musicians, Elvin Jones, George Russell, Gary Peacock and the leading Scandinavian improvisers.

During the nineties he has written original scores for several dance and TV productions as well as for films, including "Frozen Heart" and most recently "L'Invention de l'Amour". Molvær won international critical acclaim "Jazz Record Of The Year 1998", voted by L.A. Weekly and was rewarded with the prestigious German award "Deutsche Schallplatten 1998"; and this year is nominated for the Nordic Council's Music Prize 2000, Scandinavia's highest ranking music award which follows his Norwegian Grammy. Molvær began sketching ideas for "Khmer" back in 1993 initially working on his own with just his computer. The material was further developed through close collaboration with engineer and co-producer Ulf Holand at LydLab in Oslo, and took concrete form in Molvær's commissioned piece for Voss Int. Jazz Festival 1995, at which point he had made his choice of core musicians: Eivin Aarseth (guitar, decks and samples), Audun Erlien (bass), Rune Arnesen and Per Lindvall (drums) and DJ Strangefruit. "Khmer" was released on ECM in 1997 and became an international success, selling 100.000 albums world-wide. The record also made an impact on the club scene, initiated by remixes from Herbalizer, Mental Overdrive, Rockers' HiFi, Mother Nature's Cloud and Shower Show. Molvær and his group have played more than a hundred concerts throughout Europe and the US - including major European festivals (Montreux, Roskilde, North Sea Festival, Jazz Baltica, Jazz a Vienne) followed by the JVC Festival in New York, Washington Jazz Festival and Montreal Jazz Festival. "Solid Ether": Molvær's forthcoming release took six months to complete and represents a further development of the "Khmer" concept. The main body of material was recorded with his group in Rainbow Studio, and later with co-production support, the record was edited and mixed in close collaboration with Reidar Skaar at 7.ETG, and Jon Marius Aareskjold and Ulf Holand at LydLab, Oslo. Molvær releases "Solid Ether" on ECM Records from May 8^th 2000. Tour plans for 2000 include Europe (March through to the end of July), moving into Japan and S.E. Asia from September. Molvær has started his own label, Imprint Records to release his own material (remixes and soundtracks) as well as the work of some of his collaborators. Remixes have already been made by Bill Laswell, TeeBee, Mental Overdrive, Tommy Tee, Illumination, DJ Darknorse and further European and American mixers, including Jason Swinscoe (Ninja Tunes) , Matthew Herbert ( Moloko) are in progress. The first remixes will be issued (vinyl only) from mid May with the remix album in late fall 2000 on Imprint / Universal. NPM / "Khmer" (ECM 1998 - cat. no. ECM1560) NPM / "Solid Ether" (ECM May 2000 - cat. no. ECM1722) NPM / "Solid Ether Remixes (Imprint / Universal - Autumn 2000) Nils Petter Molvær, Oslo, February 2000

Musicians

Nils Petter Molvær (trumpet)
Eivind Aarset (guitar)
Darknorse sampler/special effects
Rune Arnesen (drums)
Audun Erlien (bas)
DJ Strangefruit (turntables)
Sven Persson (sound)
Tord Knudsen (light)

Links

For more information please visit:

• www.ecmrecords.com
• www.molvaermusic.com

SELECTED DISCOGRAPHY

Recordings between 1982 and the emergence of Molvær and "Khmer" as band leader:

• Jazzpunkensamble (1983 - 1998) - CD: "13 Rounds", Curling Legs - 97
• Masqualero (1983 - 92) - with Jon Christensen, Arlid Andersen, Jon Balke and Tore Brunborg. CD's : "Aero", "Bande A Part" (both on ECM)
• Molvær's first contact with Manfred Eicher and the first of eight ECM sessions Oslo 13 (1982 - 92) - CD: "Nonsentration" (ECM)
• Jon Eberson/Sidsel Endresen Group (1985 - 89) - CD: "City Visions" (CBS 1984), "Pigs and Poetry" (Sony 1987)
• Marilyn Mazur's Future Song (1986 - 1998) - CD's: "Future Song", "Small Labyrinths" (ECM)
• Sidsel Endresen group (1989 - 95) with Django Bates and Jon Christensen CD's: "So I Write" (ECM 1990), "Exile" (ECM 1994)
• Duo with Robin Schulkowsky (1995 - 96) - CD: "Hastening Westward" (ECM 1995)
• NPM / "Khmer" (ECM 1998 - cat. no. ECM1560)
• NPM / "Solid Ether" (ECM May 2000 - cat. no. ECM1722)
• NPM / "Solid Ether Remixes" (Imprint / Universal - Autumn 2000) Nils Petter Molvær, Oslo, February 2000