Artistslipp 17/6-2021

World, say hello to Kontrabassorkesteret!

Get ready for a world premiere in Molde, when Ellen Andrea Wang presents her newly formed collective of double bassists.

From the bright flagella to the deep hertz, with groovy sweaty riffs that suddenly turn into a sonic soundscape. Double Bass is back! The glue in the music, steady as a mountain with an eye-catcher that makes other instruments fade. A welcome instrument in every musical ensemble and furnished home.

In KBO, bassists meet across generations and genres with a goal – to show of what a fantastic instrument the double bass is. KBO plays newly written music by Sigurd Hole, Guro Moe, Ole Morten Vågan, Hanna Paulsberg and Ellen Andrea Wang.

Special guest for the occasion is none other than Arild Andersen! Maybe another guest will pop in too?

Welcome to a great evening.

Double bass: Håkon Thelin, Ellen Brekken, Ole Morten Vågan, Trygve Waldemar Fiske, Georgia Wartel Collins, Oda Kristine Steinkopf, Andreas Solheim, Ingebrigt Håker Flaten, Bárdur Reinert Poulsen, Mats Eilertsen, Joel Ring, Arild Andersen & Ellen Andrea Wang

Octobass & vocals: Guro Moe

Cast
In addition to this year's Artist in Residence, Ellen Andrea Wang, the following musicians participate:

ARILD ANDERSEN
The bassist with the warm tone can really be called a legend. Stylish, versatile and with a big name internationally. Already in 1967, he started playing with Jan Garbarek, Terje Rypdal and Jon Christensen. The whole discography is a piece of jazz history. But above all, he is firmly rooted in the present, and his great play and creativity are combined with an exquisite technique.

GURO SKUMSNES MOE
Has toured continuously since 2006 with her main projects MoE and Hunger in Europe, USA, Asia, Mexico and Australia and has made more than 40 records. She has also collaborated with Plexus Polaire Compagnie and composed for Oslo 14, The Touchables and many others. She runs the record company Conrad Sound and ran the "all Ears" festival for ten years.

INGEBRIGT HAKES THE SURFACE
The award-winning Norwegian bassist, improvisational musician and bandleader has been at the forefront of modern creative music in and outside Norway since the early 1990s. Perhaps best known as a co-founder of the Scandinavian supergroup Atomic but has combined post-free jazz-related experimentation with the deft use of qualities for many projects.

OLE MORTEN VÅGAN
Jazz bassist and arranger Ole Morten Vågan has been a central figure on the Scandinavian jazz scene in recent decades with bands such as Motif, Spellemann Pris - winning Maria Kannegaard Trio and Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, where Ole Morten is artistic director.

GEORGIA ROOT COLLINS
Is a Swedish double bass player based in Norway. After graduating from NTNU in Trondheim, she began her Master's at the ‘Conservatorium van Amsterdam’. Jazz and improvisation have always been what her heart beats for. She freelances with both her own and others' groups / projects, including her own trio Aila trio, JUNO, Seul Adore and Trondheim Jazz Orchestra.

ELLEN BREKKEN
Studied the jazz line at the Norwegian Academy of Music until 2010 and has worked freelance since. Has made a name for herself in jazz, rock, pop and folk music, and is i.e., to be found in bands such as Hedvig Mollestad trio and Tord Gustavsen trio. She just debuted as a composer with the band A tonic for the troops on ODIN records.

ANDREAS SOLHEIM
Is a 21-year-old double bass player who comes from Asker. With a background in both classical and jazz, Andreas lives in Trondheim and studies at the jazz line at NTNU, where he draws inspiration as a bandleader, composer and participant in several new projects.

HÅKON THELIN
The boy form Skien who skipped jazz when he dropped out of high school to start playing contemporary music. Now he is a bit like an all-around musician, composer and teacher.
His first job at Moldejazz is of course, with the BASS ORCHESTRA.

MATS EILERTSEN
Born in 1975 he has settled in the rural but historic area of Eidsvoll where he carves melodies and treats his bass violin, while in between the battles he annoys taxi drivers and other guys who think he should rather play piccolo.

TRYGVE WALDEMAR FISHING
Has distinguished himself as one of the country's leading jazz bassists in collaboration with musicians in Hanna Paulsberg Concept, John Pål Inderberg Trio and with Solveig Slettahjell. Not least his own band Waldemar 4 with two releases behind him, Trygve Fiske has impressed a lot as a composer and bandleader, where the latest release "The Buoy and the Sea" was named one of the best jazz releases in 2020 by Dagsavisen.

ODA KRISTINE STEINKOPF
From Stanghelle in Vaksdal she plays, sings, writes and arranges a bit in various ensembles. From being a modest bass-playing 11-year-old at Voss Jazz School, she will start her third year at NTNU at Jazzlinja in Trondheim this autumn.

JOEL RING
"I play bass, and I love it" (Joel Ring b. 1988 in Småland, Sweden)

BARDUR REINERT POULSEN
Is a bassist from the Danish Colonies (Faroe Islands). Moved to Norway and has studied at NTNU and NHM.

Ben Wendel med bl.a AiR Ellen Andrea Wang på bass

Ben Wendel - saksofon, Nate Wood - trommer, Rob Luft - gitar, Andreas Ulvo - tangenter, Ellen Andrea Wang - bass

With her third solo album, that hailed great praise from all around and an album that were on several international lists of this year's best albums in 2020 Ellen Andrea Wang has the best-selling vinyl album in Norway.

On Ellen Andrea Wang's third studio album, Closeness, we find in addition to Wang on double bass and vocals, the British star Rob Luft on guitar and the Swedish meritorious Jon Fält on drums. On this album, Wang has been inspired by the iconic jazz bassist Charlie Haden and written new music based on the aesthetics and philosophy of Haden.

The album consists of adventurous personal compositions, traditional spirituals in new arrangements, as well as two carefully selected covers from Ornette Coleman (Lonely Woman) and Pat Metheny (This Is Not America). The interaction between the musicians is something very special where they approach each song with patience and with a care for the art.

Wang says:

"I want to find the simple in music, as Haden did. Calm down in the bass playing, and let the notes sing. It has been good to write music that is allowed to rest a little because life as a musician can be hectic. Here is the music that breathes »

"Just listen to the title track" Closeness ", it's as if Charlie Haden should lie in the bunk and conduct, and the album's most beautiful track" - Arild R. Andersen - Aftenposten

"Jazz with past, present, future and closeness" - Geir Rakvaag, Dagsavisen

"One of the really nice records from 2020" - Ole Johannes Ålefjær, Vårt Land

EAW - double bass and vocals, Rob Luft - guitar, Jon Fält - drums

From 2015-2017, Ellen Andrea Wang was on a world tour with drum legend Manu Katché. Now they meet again in Molde with Ben Wendel on saxophone and Andreas Ulvo on keyboards to play music by Ellen.

Manu has played with most people like Joni Mitchell, Sting, Peter Gabriel and not least Jan Garbarek. Manu visited Moldejazz for the first time 30 years ago in connection with Jan Garbarek's legendary "Molde Canticle"

Manu Katché - drums, Ben Wendel - saxophone, Ellen Andrea Wang - bass, Andreas Ulvo - keyboards

The work is called "Magnificat" which is Mary's hymn.

"I have had a dream and a desire to write a choral work for female voices and double bass! Where the deep bass tones merge with the light vocal voices "says bassist Ellen Andrea Wang.

Being an AiR during Moldejazz, just such an opportunity opened, and I called conductor Marit Tøndel Bodsberg to launch the idea and hear if this could be something for KSS and she said "YESS, we have to make it happen". And suddenly we were walking!

"My soul exalts the Lord" is the beginning of the Latin text of Mary's hymn, which she breaks out after the archangel Gabriel has announced the birth of Jesus. The Magnificat is from the Gospel of Luke. When Mary sings, it is therefore in the joy of the mother's skull - in the joy of being designated to be pregnant with God herself - of being able to weave him into the family through her mother's life and be the gate that God himself would go through to come the creature close. Mary is thus, especially according to Catholic theology, the very icon of the church.

Throughout music history, there are many composers who have set the tone for Mary's praise, and there are remarkably few female composers who have written music for the text, even though the theme is about a woman's birth and her encounter by carrying a child. I myself recently became a mother and found it wonderful and overwhelming to carry a child. In the process, I have linked some of my own life experiences in text and music to create a more universal perspective to give it all a fresh breath.

Ellen Andrea Wang - double bass, vocals and compositions

Female Students' Singing Association (KSS) - choir

Hanna Paulsberg - saxophone

Tone Muskja - live visuals

How would the recruitment to Norwegian jazz been if it were not for the band movement?

Earlier this year they became public property as participants in MGP with the hit song "Let Loose" with vocals by Caroline "Hazel" Teigen.

Blåsemafian consists of Sigurd Evensen (trombone), Stig Espen Hundsnes (trumpet) and Jørgen Lund Karlsen (saxophone).

All three have a heavy band background, and in their musical environment they are worshiped as heroes. "The three of us are very proud of the values we have gained from the band movement. We want to give something back to a movement we greatly appreciate" they said in a recent interview. "It would have been great if we had helped recruit new potential musicians to contact their local bands." They have previously collaborated with artists such as Cezinando, Madcon and Marcus & Martinus. For the past decade, the trio Blåsemafian has worked to establish themselves as independent artists, and in 2019 they released their first single "Into the Light" with Tony B.

Ida Jenshus was named "the queen of country" after she won the Tore Strømøy program "Lyden av lørdag" in 2007

Jenshus is a free soul and constantly chases her own musical mix of country, americana, pop and rock.

During her first five years as a record artist, three records came as seriatim, and all three were awarded with Spellemann Pris, an accomplishment that should be able to give a permanent stay in Nashville.

Ida Jenshus do not rest. In recent years, she has commuted a lot between Norway, Los Angeles and Nashville, and collaborated with i.e., JD Souther. He has played a major role in the careers of several of America's most successful artists, such as the Eagles and Linda Ronstad.

Ida has never been afraid to write deeply personal songs, and it´s hard not tot be emotional touched when she performs. She is a rock-solid live artist who masters both the energetic and the rawness when she performs. Jenshus has toured the country with every album release, and after almost 1000 concerts has become a credible and popular artist who delivers great concert experiences every time!

The eight-man band Mambo Companeros has sold out Alexandra Park several times.

This year they will return to play with us melancholy, gut beats, seat ulcers and other coronary injuries.

It's dance music they play, and they can really make a dance floor burst with life. However, it is also an undivided pleasure to borrow the ears of this orchestra. Mambo Companeros has let pure musical joy flow beyond the audience for more than 20 years. Show us the one who does not let the inner sunshine and thaw all ice when Mambo Companeros starts with bolero, rumba, salsa, cha-cha, timbe, mambo and Latin American jazz classics!

Alexander Fernandez - vocals, Luison Medina - congas, vocals, Bjørnar Søreng - timbales, Magnus Forsberg - drums, Kjetil Sandnes - bass, Morten Huuse - piano, Kåre Kolve saxophone, flute, Morten Schrøder - trumpet

Uimotståelig fengende disco / funk / jazz

Bak navnet Kappekoff står bassist og produsent Magnus Falkenberg fra Oslo med bakgrunn fra jazzlinja på Norges Musikkhøgskole.
Høsten 2020 slapp Kappekoff albumet «Turning Points», der den musikalske egenarten er den store variasjonen og bredden i lydbildet og sjangeruttrykk. Sjansen for at du har hørt låta "Why You" er stor, i alle fall om du er NRK P3-lytter.
På albumet medvirker både jazzutøvere og populærartister som Ola Kvernberg, Jimmy Smash, Myra, Linni, Thomas Busch (Proviant Audio), Lyder Øvreås Røed (Fieh), Martin Windstad (Todd Terje, Steamdome, Kurt Nilsen m.m) og Kristoffer Eikrem (Mutual Intentions).
Disse bidrar til å forsterke musikkens bredde i sjanger og uttrykk.
Kappekoff gjorde nettopp en re-release av albumet, denne gangen med kun instrumental-versjoner.

A special meeting between two people in Molde has been given a very special after-story, which has become Henning Mankell's musical monologue "Driving Miles"

Molde city and the jazz festival has been important for each other for sixty years. The festival has undoubtedly made the city bigger and the world smaller a few days in July every year.

A jazz festival is first and foremost about jazz and music, but there will be no real festival without human encounters. Meetings between musicians and the audience. Meetings in the festival street. Meetings between artists and volunteers. A meeting between two people in Molde has a very special after-story. Henning Mankell's musical monologue based on the friendship between Moldejazz driver Svein Åge Johansen and the legend Miles Davis turns ten years old this year in the festival's anniversary year. The play was originally a gift from Teatret Vårt to Moldejazz for the 50th anniversary in 2010 and has since been performed in several places in Europe in addition to the performances at Moldejazz in 2015 and 2016. It is therefore completely natural and in line with many wishes that the piece is now set up again!

Petter Petterson writes about the background of the play:

Early Thursday morning, the Molde Jazzfestival received a phone call from Paris, Miles was not on the plane to Norway, he had food poisoning and was not able to get to the concert. Miles Davis had at that point been inactive for several years. But now he was back again, with a new band and new music, he was still a man who sat the agenda. He had not been to Norway since 1971. In the jazz context, this was an event in line with the Lillehammer Olympics ten years later. As most people know, it went well. Miles came, played - six hours late after scheduled time - and won. The fifteen hundred listeners who after the concert left Idrettens Hus that morning felt they had taken part in a historic session.

When Miles landed at Årø Airport an hour before midnight, he was first handed a bouquet of roses, and was then interviewed by Dagsrevyen's Ragnar Auglænd. Then the festival's transport manager Svein Åge Johansen and his white Cadillac took over. It is quiet for a while in the car, while Miles takes in the scenario on the way to the city center. After a while - pointing to a picture perfect blue and white Moldefjord in the dim light of summer night - he asks: "Is that all ice?" Svein Åge explains that he is not that far north. The next question is: "Do you like my music?" Svein Åge is bottled up with folk and rock music and knows little about modern jazz, and is also an honest man, so he answers: "Nope", but immediately thinks that in this case he should maybe told a little lie, he had heard of Miles temperament. But Miles laughs out loud, slaps Svein Åge on the shoulder, and says: "Let's be friends." It was the start of a special friendship between driving instructor Johansen from Molde and jazz musician Davis from New York.

The story of this relationship forms the backdrop for the play "Driving Miles", written for the regional theater in Møre og Romsdal Teatret Vårt by the famous Swedish author Henning Mankell. The play is performed by three musicians and an actor, and contains, in addition to the story of the two main characters, also Miles-related music.

Text: Henning Mankell

Crew: Per Egil Aske - actor, Ole Jørn Myklebust - trumpet, Jørn Øien - piano and Jens Fossum - double bass.

Vibrant and evocative band with their musical foundation in New Orleans music.

The band has a mix of educated, experienced musicians and young innovative forces at a high level.

The band plays their own scars. on traditional and more modern compositions in classical New Orleans musical tradition. They have had several collaborative projects with other orchestras and soloists with great success showing the band's capacity and musical competence. Bech & Skeidsvoll New Orleans Band has played at both smaller clubs, in street environments, churches, on larger stages, also at festivals. Their theatrical performance and good communication with the audience gives a good response.

Gunnar Bech - vocals and trombone, Leiv Skeidsvoll - vocals and trumpet, Lauritz Skeidsvoll - saxophone, Frank Iversen - banjo / guitar, Sindre Klykken - double bass, Hans-Petter Gyldenskog - percussion, Peder Skeidsvoll - trumpet, Isach Skeidsvoll - piano

Is it pop, is it jazz, or is it so careful?

The band, which houses some of their generation's most exciting jazz musicians, has in a short time become known for its vibrant energetic live shows and its music that explodes in pastel colors.

There is a good vibe in the Norwegian pop these days. Mall Girl dances playfully and with great self-confidence down the paved path "bands with a jazz background that plays wild and creative indie-pop".

The sources of inspiration range from the happy eighties pop creations to noise, indie and matter rock. This is first and foremost free music that sneaks quickly through the ears before it attaches its claw to consciousness and stays there.

After their first concert in February 2018, they uploaded the song "Slay Queen" to Soundcloud and later NRK Urørt. The song was immediately recommended by the Untouched panel, and the band was named "Untouched of the Month" and received heavy rotation at NRK P3. After this, it did not take long before the international music industry started knocking on the door.

In recent years, Mall Girl has released a strong series of singles and played at major Scandinavian festivals such as Øya, Roskilde and Bylarm. Now it's finally time for Moldejazz!

Bethany Forseth-Reichberg - vocals, Iver Armand Tandsether - guitar, Eskild Myrvoll - bass, Hannah Veslemøy Narvesen - drums

There is more energy in that man than you will ever believe!

What it is that flows through drummer and bandleader Paal Nilssen Love is a mystery.

For decades, he has released records and projects at a breakneck and extremely life affirming pace. He has constantly been traveling, both on the world map and in the irregularities of music. "I cannot remember ever being so impressed with a young talent," said Pat Metheny after playing a legendary trio job with Nilssen-Love and Arild Andersen at Moldejazz in 2001.

Paal Nilssen-Love is music, he breathes music, and he certainly also has music on his bread. If you have been to a jazz club somewhere in the world in the last decades, it is very likely that you have heard Nilssen-Love play, and not least seen him play so the sweat trickles on stage. And if you have been to an airport in your life, it is also likely that in the side view you have registered a guy walking around on cymbal bags and heavy newly purchased vinyl.

Paal has a background from the jazz line in Trondheim. He has become one of our most internationally renowned musicians due to his energetic and imaginative drumming. Paal is a versatile, innovative and uncompromising musician who works in many kinds of formats. The list of collaborators is endlessly long and includes everything from Peter Brøtzmann, Arto Lindsay, Ethiopian musicians, Neneh Cherry, to Joe McPhee and Jim O’Rourke.

In 2019, Paal was sponsored by the Swiss Cymbal and Gong producer Paiste, and after that thing took off. 7 Gongs later, this has become a favorite instrument for Nilssen-Love and there is no doubt that the sound and interaction of the gongs can move mountains and fjords. The gongs are prepared with everything from paper, Styrofoam, cones and knitting needles and the volume ranges from 10 to 120db. For the nerds, it can be informed that the deepest gong sounds at 68Hz (!)

No concerts with Paal are alike, and what he will offer during this summer's festival we do not know until we sit there on the day of the concert, full of anticipation and with our ears on a stalk! For Paal is always on the move.

Here today, gone tomorrow!

Maja Ratkje might be the most innovative musician we have in this country.

With Nordheim's composer award and UNESCO's Rostrum award in the bag, she has with composition, voice and electronics found a unique musical position.

Her compositions have been performed by performers such as Ensemble Intercontemporain, Klangforum Wien, Fretwork, BBC Scottish and the Symphony Orchestra. She has been a member of the critically acclaimed quartet SPUNK for more than a decade. In 2013, she was nominated for the Nordic Council's Music Prize for her voice use, and the same year she received the Rolf Gammleng Prize for participation in over 100 record releases. Most recently this year, she was nominated for a Spellemann Pris for the fifth time.

She has released an album on John Zorn's label Tzadik, and the album "Hunger" from 2019 was highlighted as a favorite by Iggy Pop! As an improvisational musician, Maja has collaborated with with Joëlle Léandre, Ikue Mori, Zeena Parkins, and Lasse Marhaug.

Last year she did a touchingly beautiful acoustic concert during the festival together with Stian Westerhus. This year we have invited her back to do one of her always creative solo concerts.

With bass, bow and his own body as a starting point, Christian Meaas Svendsen works with a unique sound and movement universe.

Music is about relationships; between components in the music, between the performer and the audience, between the performers in an ensemble, and not least between the performer and the instrument.

It is especially this latest relationship that gets new life in Meaas Svendsen's solo play. Despite working within a relatively traditional framework, the result is highly unconventional.

For this concert, Meaas Svendsen has worked with a repertoire where it is about using "everything you have and is" to create a living, musical installation - a kind of drama - where the auditory and visual
compliments each other, but where the sound still sits in the driver's seat.

Lærlingan is a music and theater group for young people in Molde and the surrounding area.

The group was started in 2006, and has between 10 and 15 members annually. Several of these have gone on to education and careers in music or theater. In Alexandraparken 22/7 you get to meet some of these. Exactly who will depends on which coronary restrictions apply in July. On several occasions, "old" Apprentices and other musical friends take part in various playing assignments.

This applies, among other things, to the annual " Medan dei er heime"" concert on Christmas Eve, and when Lærlingan has its annual concert during Moldejazz. Twice "Lærlingan" has participated in DUS (DUS = The Young Stage). In 2011, the group was selected to represent Møre og Romsdal at the national DUS festival in Oslo, where they play at the Norwegian Theater. At this festival, Lærlingan was also a kind of festival band and played music during the opening and at the festival party.