Nils Petter Molvær

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Nils Petter Molvær
Background information
Also known as	NPM
Born	(1960-09-18) 18 September 1960 (age 51) Sula, Norway
Genres	Jazz, Jazz fusion, electronic music, rock
Occupations	Musician, composer
Instruments	Trumpet
Labels	ECM
Associated acts	Masqualero
Website	Nils Petter Molvær.info

Molvær in Neuwied, Germany in 2001

Nils Petter Molvær (Norwegian pronunciation: [ˈmol.væɾ]^[1]) also known as NPM (born September 18, 1960) is a Norwegian jazz trumpeter, composer, and producer. Molvær is considered a pioneer in fusing jazz and electronic music, showcased on his most commerically successful album, Khmer,^[2] on the ECM label in October 1997 in Europe and early 1998 in North America.

Biography

Molvær was born and raised on the island of Sula, Møre og Romsda, Norway, and left at age nineteen to study music at the conservatory in Trondheim. He joined the band Masqualero, alongside Arild Andersen, Jon Christensen and Tore Brunborg. Masqualero (named after a Wayne Shorter composition originally recorded by Miles Davis) recorded several albums for ECM Records, and Molvær recorded with other ECM artists before his 1997 debut solo album, Khmer. The record was a fusion of jazz, rock, electronic soundscapes, and hip-hop beats – and quite unlike the delicate "chamber jazz" typically associated with ECM.^[3] Molvær's muted trumpet sound, sometimes electronically processed, had an obvious debt to Miles Davis's work of the 1970s and 1980s, but without being a slavish copy. For the first time, ECM released singles - "Song of Sand", backed with three remixes, and "Ligotage". In 2000, a second album followed, Solid Ether, after which Molvær left ECM. He has recorded several albums since, and has also produced film and theater music.

He often works with guitarist Eivind Aarset.

Discography

In Masqualero

• 1985: Bande À Part^[4]
• 1987: Aero
• 1990: Re-Enter

Solo

Original albums

• 1997: Khmer
• 2000: Solid Ether (with Sidsel Endresen)
• 2002: NP3
• 2005: Er ^[5]
• 2005: Edy (soundtrack to the film by Guérin-Tillié)
• 2008: Re-Vision (OST outtakes merged into an album) ^[6]
• 2009: Hamada ^[7]
• 2011: Baboon moon

Reprise albums

• 2001: Recoloured (remixes)
• 2004: Streamer (2002, live versions of previous tracks)
• 2005: Remakes (remixes)
• 2005: An American Compilation(compilation)

With others

• 1990: So I Write (Sidsel Endresen)
• 1990: Nonsentration (Jon Balke)
• 1993: Exile (Sidsel Endresen)
• 1994: Small Labyrinths (Marilyn Mazur)
• 1995: Hastening Westward (Robyn Schulkowsky and Nils Petter Molvær)
• 2001: Radioaxiom – A Dub Transmission (Bill Laswell and Jah Wobble)
• 2003: Electra (Arild Andersen)
• 2004: Seafarer's Song (Ketil Bjørnstad)
• 2007: A Pure Land (Sienna)
• 2007: Ataraxis (Deeyah)
• 2008: Dome (Johannes Enders)
• 2008: Corps Electriques (Hector Zazou)

Also appears on

• Beginner's Guide to Scandinavia (3CD, Nascente 2011)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Nils Petter Molvær

• Nils Petter Molvær at NilsPetterMolvaer.info (official website)