Nils Petter Molvær () also known as NPM (born 18 September 1960) is a Norwegian

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

trumpeter, composer, and record producer. He is considered a pioneer of future jazz, a genre that fuses jazz and

electronic music Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electro ...

, best showcased on his most commercially successful album, '' Khmer''.

Biography

Molvær was born and raised on the island of

Sula, Møre og Romsdal Sula () is a municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the Sunnmøre district. The administrative centre is the village of Langevåg. Other villages include Solevåg, Fiskarstrand, Veibust, Leirvågen, and Mauseidvåg. ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...

, and left at age nineteen to study on the Jazz program at Trondheim Musikkonservatorium (1980–82). He joined the bands

Jazzpunkensemblet Jazzpunkensemblet (established 1983 in Oslo, Norway) is a Norwegian jazz ensemble orchestra led by the famous musicians Jon Eberson on guitar and Nils Petter Molvær on trumpet, and known for a clean style duel between two rhythm sections, and the ...

with

Jon Eberson Jon Arild Eberson (born 6 January 1953) is a Norwegian jazz guitarist and composer, the son of jazz guitarist Leif Eberson (1925–1970), and the father of keyboardist Marte Maaland Eberson. He was a member of the bands Moose Loose (1973–77), ...

and Masqualero, alongside

Arild Andersen Arild Andersen (born 27 October 1945) is a Norwegian jazz musician bassist, known as the most famous Norwegian bass player in the international jazz scene. Career Andersen was born at Strømmen, Norway. He started his musical career as jazz g ...

, Jon Christensen and

Tore Brunborg Tore Brunborg (born 20 May 1960) is a Norwegian jazz musician and composer who plays saxophone. He was born in Trondheim but grew up in Voss where a jazz environment was flowering. Known from numerous appearances with international greats inclu ...

. Masqualero (named after a

Wayne Shorter Wayne Shorter (born August 25, 1933) is an American jazz saxophonist and composer. Shorter came to prominence in the late 1950s as a member of, and eventually primary composer for, Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. In the 1960s, he joined Miles D ...

composition originally recorded by

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th-century music. Davis adopted a variety of music ...

) recorded several albums for

ECM Records ECM (Edition of Contemporary Music) is an independent record label founded by Karl Egger, Manfred Eicher and Manfred Scheffner in Munich in 1969. While ECM is best known for jazz music, the label has released a variety of recordings, and ECM's ...

, and Molvær recorded with other ECM artists before his 1997 debut solo album, ''Khmer''. The record was a fusion of

, rock, electronic soundscapes, and hip-hop beats – and quite unlike the delicate "chamber jazz" typically associated with ECM. 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 ECM may refer to: Economics and commerce * Engineering change management * Equity capital markets * Error correction model, an econometric model * European Common Market Mathematics * Elliptic curve method * European Congress of Mathemat ...

released singles: "Song of Sand", backed with three remixes, and "Ligotage". In 2000, a second album followed, ''Solid Ether'', after which Molvær left

. He has recorded several albums since, and has also produced film and theater music. He often works with guitarist

Eivind Aarset Eivind Aarset (born 23 March 1961) is a Norwegian guitarist who has worked with Ray Charles, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Ute Lemper, Ketil Bjørnstad, Andy Sheppard, Mike Mainieri, Arild Andersen, Abraham Laboriel, Dhafer Youssef, Django Bates, and ...

. He has also played with

Tabla Beat Science Tabla Beat Science was a musical group founded in 1999 by Zakir Hussain and Bill Laswell. Its style consists of a mixture of Hindustani music, Asian Underground, ambient music, drum and bass and electronica. In 2001 Karsh Kale was approached by ...

, created by

Zakir Hussain Zakir Hussain ( ur, , link=no) is the name of: * Zakir Husain (politician), an Indian politician and former president of India * Zakir Hussain (actor), Bollywood actor * Zakir Hussain (field hockey) (1934–2019), Pakistani field hockey player * ...

and

Bill Laswell William Otis Laswell (born February 12, 1955) is an American bass guitarist, record producer, and record label owner. He has been involved in thousands of recordings with many collaborators from all over the world. His music draws from funk, ...

Honors

*1996: Kongsberg Jazz Award *1997:

Spellemannprisen Spellemannprisen, often referred to as the Norwegian Grammy Awards in English, is a Norwegian music award presented to Norwegian musicians. The award was established by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), an organizat ...

in the Open class *1998: Gammleng-prisen in the class Jazz *1996: Kongsberg Jazz Award *2000: Spellemannprisen in the Open class *2003:

Buddyprisen Buddyprisen (established 1956 in Oslo, Norway) is an award, given annually by the Norwegian Jazz Forum to a Norwegian jazz musician that has "been an excellent performer and significantly involved in Norwegian jazz by other means". The award was ...

*2005: Spellemannprisen in the Open class

Discography

In Masqualero

* 1983: ''Masqualero'' * 1985: ''Bande À Part'' * 1987: ''Aero'' * 1990: ''Re-Enter''

Solo

* 1997: '' Khmer'' * 1998: ''Khmer: The Remixes'' (promo only) * 1998: ''Ligotage'' (EP) * 2000: ''

Solid Ether ''Solid Ether'' is an album by Norwegian trumpeter, composer and producer Nils Petter Molvær, recorded in 1999 and released on ECM May the following year.

'' (feat.

Sidsel Endresen Sidsel Endresen (born 19 June 1952) is a Norwegian singer, composer, and actress. She was part of the Jon Eberson group. Since 1987, Endresen has pursued a successful solo career, recording for ECM. Career Endresen was one of the most pronou ...

and others) * 2001: ''Recoloured'' (remixes) * 2002: ''NP3'' * 2004: ''Streamer'' (2002, live) * 2005: ''Er'' * 2005: ''Edy'' (soundtrack to the film by Guérin-Tillié) * 2005: ''Remakes'' (remixes) * 2005: ''An American Compilation'' (compilation) * 2008: ''Re-Vision'' (OST outtakes merged into an album) * 2009: ''Hamada'' * 2011: ''Baboon Moon'' * 2014: ''Switch'' * 2016: ''Buoyancy'' * 2021: ''Stitches''

Collaborations

* 1990: ''So I Write'', with

, Django Bates, Jon Christensen * 1995: ''Hastening Westward'', with Robyn Schulkowsky * 1997: ''Small Labyrinths'' (recorded 1994), in Marilyn Mazur's Future Song * 2005: ''Electra'', in

Group * 2008: ''Corps Electriques'', with Hector Zazou/ KatieJane Garside, Bill Rieflin, Lone Kent * 2013: ''1/1'', with

Moritz von Oswald Moritz von Oswald (born 1962) is a German record producer and percussionist from Hamburg and based in Berlin. He is a co-founder of the production duo and record label Basic Channel. He has collaborated with Juan Atkins, Carl Craig, and Nils P ...

* 2015: ''Infolding'', in Spin Marvel (

Martin France Martin France (born 1964) is one of the top jazz drummers in the UK. He has recorded on over 100 albums and is a Professor at the Royal Academy of Music in London. He is sponsored by Paiste cymbals Career France began performing at the age of ...

- drums, Tim Harries - bass, Terje Evensen - live electronics, Nils Petter Molvaer - trumpet, Emre Ramazanoglu - production and further drums) * 2015: ''Høst: Autumn Fall'' (OST), with Mapping Oceans * 2018: ''Nordub'', with

Sly & Robbie Sly and Robbie were a prolific Jamaican rhythm section and production duo, associated primarily with the reggae and dub genres. Drummer Sly Dunbar and bassist Robbie Shakespeare teamed up in the mid-1970s after establishing themselves separa ...

* 2019: ''Music For Paintings, with'' Terje Evensen, Leo Abrahams, Anna Stereopoulou, Anthony Cox, Manongo Mujica

As featured artist

* 1990: ''Nonsentration'' - Jon Balke * 1992: ''Night Caller'' - Rita Marcotulli * 1993: ''Exile'' -

* 1997: ''Brytningstid'' - Kenneth Sivertsen * 1998: ''

Électronique Noire ''Électronique Noire'' is an album by Norwegian guitarist Eivind Aarset. Background This is a ground breaking debut solo album, and whether collaborating with trumpeter Nils Petter Molvaer or recording for Bugge Wesseltoft's Jazzland label, Ei ...

'' -

* 2001: ''Radioaxiom – A Dub Transmission'' -

& Jah Wobble * 2003: ''Digital Prophecy'' - Dhafer Youssef * 2004: ''Seafarer's Song'' - Ketil Bjørnstad * 2006: ''Mélange Bleu'' -

Lars Danielsson Lars Danielsson (born 5 September 1958) is a Swedish jazz bassist, composer, and record producer. Biography Danielsson was born in Smålandsstenar, and was educated at the music conservatory in Gothenburg. He plays double bass, electric bass ...

* 2007: ''A Pure Land'' -

Sienna Sienna (from it, terra di Siena, meaning "Siena earth") is an earth pigment containing iron oxide and manganese oxide. In its natural state, it is yellowish brown and is called raw sienna. When heated, it becomes a reddish brown and is call ...

* 2007: ''Ataraxis'' -

Deeyah Deeyah Khan ( ur, , , born 7 August 1977) is a Norwegian documentary film director and human rights activist of Punjabi/Pashtun descent. Deeyah is a two-time Emmy Award winner, two time Peabody Award winner, a BAFTA winner and has received th ...

* 2007: ''23 Wheels of Dharma'' - Somma * 2008: ''Dome'' - Johannes Enders * 2008: ''Lodge'' - Fanu &

* 2012: ''Manu Katché'' -

Manu Katché Manu Katché (born 27 October 1958) is a French drummer and songwriter of Ivorian descent. He has worked extensively as a session musician, notably with Sting and Peter Gabriel, and his solo albums as a bandleader are largely in the jazz fusion ...

* 2015: ''Deeper Green'' - Christof May * 2017: ''Hypersomniac'' - Lef * 2019: ''Hyperuranion'' - Chat Noir * 2021: '' Roses of Neurosis'' -

Sivert Høyem Sivert Høyem (born 22 January 1976) is a Norwegian musician, best known as the vocalist of the rock band Madrugada. After the band broke up following the death of Robert Burås in 2007, he has enjoyed success as a solo artist and is also a me ...

Also appears on

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

References

External links

* *
Nils Petter Molvær Biography
by Johs Bergh on

Store Norske Leksikon The ''Great Norwegian Encyclopedia'' ( no, Store Norske Leksikon, abbreviated ''SNL''), is a Norwegian-language online encyclopedia. The online encyclopedia is among the most-read Norwegian published sites, with more than two million unique vi ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Molvaer, Nils Petter Norwegian jazz composers Male jazz composers Jazz fusion musicians Avant-garde jazz musicians Spellemannprisen winners 20th-century Norwegian trumpeters 21st-century Norwegian trumpeters Norwegian University of Science and Technology alumni 1960 births Living people Musicians from Langevåg Norwegian jazz trumpeters Male trumpeters ECM Records artists 20th-century Norwegian male musicians 21st-century Norwegian male musicians 1300 Oslo members Jazzpunkensemblet members Masqualero members Thirsty Ear Recordings artists