New artists!

DAVE HOLLAND OVERTONE, SPUNK & JÖELLE LÉANDRE, KARL SEGLEM, TEAM HEGDAL, CORTEX, KJETIL MØSTER AND MICHAEL DUCH ARE PLAYING AT MOLDEJAZZ 2011. THERE WILL ALSO BE ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY TO SEE THE HIT THEATRE SHOW "DRIVING MILES".

Last updated: 05.12.2011

Dave Holland, this year's Artist in Residence, has brought together one of the strongest constellations of modern acoustic jazz with Overtone. Hiring pianist Jason Moran for this group was sheer genius. Moran is becoming an increasingly strong personal voice among younger musicians. He is a complete pianist, and joined by Eric Harland on drums and Chris Potter on saxophone, this is a band of powerful – and playful – musicians that it is a thrill to listen to. In connection with their debut concert, The New York Times wrote that the quartet takes Holland's orchestral 'bouncy swing' to a whole new level. The quartet is playing at Kulturhuset on Tueday 19 July, and it has now been confirmed that Dave Holland will perform one of his rare solo concerts at Forum on Thursday 21 July.

The quartet Spunk has received much national and international recognition for their concerts and acclaimed albums released on the record company Rune Grammofon. On the noise music, new music and improv scenes, they are virtually cult figures. In Molde they will improvise with the French double bassist Joëlle Léandre, who over the years has played with 'everyone' in the improv and new music genres.

Karl Seglem is one of Norway's most characteristic saxophone players, positioned somewhere between Norwegian folk music and jazz. As a composer and performer, he has brought the very best of the varied Norwegian traditional music into concert arenas and record studios, and developed a unique 'Seglem sound'. It melds Hardanger fiddles with goat horns, laptops and electronica in a natural symbiosis. The music that flows towards you is touchingly beautiful, groovy and swinging, and jam-packed with muted temperament, emotions and reflection.

Reknes Ungdomshus will be the venue for three afternoons featuring fully acoustic jazz by top Norwegian musicians. On Tuesday, saxophone player Kjetil Møster and bass player Michael Duch will play one solo set each. On Wednesday, the high-octane band Cortex will be playing, who have received much well-deserved praise for their new eponymous record. Cortex is a young, energetic quartet founded by Thomas Johansson. They play original compositions by Johansson and focus on energy, dynamics, groove, interaction and mixing genres. Saxophone player, composer and arranger Eirik Hegdal has been a fixture at Moldejazz for several years as a member of various bands and constellations. This year, he is performing with his own Team Hegdal, for which he writes most of the music that has references to both Ornette Coleman and Olivier Messiaen. "... sparkling solos and a tough, swinging drive, and two sax players that spur each other on to the most harmolodic achievement I can ever remember hearing from Norwegian musicians." Terje Mosnes, Dagbladet.

This year's festival will also provide another opportunity to see the hit theatre show Driving Miles, written for one actor and a jazz trio. The author Henning Mankell wrote this musical monologue that had its world premiere during the 50th anniversary jazz festival in 2010. Mankell's story is a tribute to the music, the genius and the great artistic experience, but it also praises the small world in which normal people live, that occasionally can collide with the really big, wide world. During the performance, we meet Miles Davies on his way to town from Molde Airport Årø, a not entirely unknown Head Chauffeur from the jazz festival staff, a scrap dealer with an interest in jazz and a cuckoo clock from Montreux. After the very first performance, Svein Rune Nyland from the local newspaper Romsdals Budstikke gave the show top marks and wrote: "The prodigal son Per Egil Aske left the stage to the sound of a standing ovation. He had mesmerized the audience with the story of his friend and Miles Davies. What in the world can a jazz legend and a stalwart local from Molde have in common?"

The top saxophone player Chris Potter will participate in two additional concerts while in Molde. On Monday 18 July he will play with the Lee Konitz/Tomasz Stanko band which thus becomes a sextet, and on Wednesday 20 July he will join Mathias Eick's band for the concert at Romsdalsmuseet.

Day passes and tickets on sale from Posten, Billettservice, tel. 815 33 133, www.billettservice.no and www.moldejazz.no from Friday 25 February.
For more details contact:

Festival Director: Jan Ole Otnæs+47 91 88 53 93

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