D'Angelo and Veronica Maggio at Moldejazz!

D'Angelo, born Michael Eugene Archer in 1974, debuted in 1995 with the album Brown Sugar. The album has elements of jazz-inspired hip-hop and classical soul in a refreshing mix, with references to A Tribe Called Quest as well as Stevie Wonder. D'Angelo spent five years on his second album, the modern classic Voodoo. This album was even more solid than his debut, with languorous and smoothly grooving soul and funk.He had also brought in several new collaborators, such as drummer Ahmir Thomson, known as Questlove from hip hop-group The Roots, and not to forget Welsh star-bassist Pino Palladino, a musician that has had a large influence on the unique groove of D'Angelo's music ever since. Jazz-trumpeter Roy Hargove and guitarist Charlie Hunter also contributed by putting their mark on Voodoo.And then we were set for a long wait before we saw new material from D'Angelo again. Hopes of a third album were fading before Black Messiah suddenly appeared, 14 years after Voodoo. The new album hit, in many ways, a zeitgeist. Dark, gloomy and filthy - but at the same time groovy, playful and lively. he album was certainly received well, and despite its late release still managed to top several "Best of the year"-lists.

'Angelo is now touring with his band The Vanguard, and live they deliver concerts best described as fireworks. When they visited Oslo during February last year they played for more or less two hours, and provided an evening of sweat-dripping and affirming modern mix of funk and soul. If comparisons to Sly Stone, Prince and Marvin Gaye are commonplace when people discuss D'Angelo, there's something a bit edgier about his band when they perform live, maybe even a hint of rock-bands such as Living Colour and Fishbone. It's also clear that he's picked up a thing or two about commanding a live-band from one of the greatest, godfather of soul James Brown. In short - get excited!

Veronica Maggio is, without exaggerating, one of Scandinavia's largest pop-artists. The Swedish vocalist and song-writer, with an Italian ancestry, released her debut-album "Vatten og bröd" in 2006 - a release which was awarded with "Newcomer of the year" at the Swedish Grammis gala-event of 2007. And with the sequel "Och vinnaren är" of 2008 her career really took off. Helped by hit-singles like "Måndagsbarn", which topped VGs chart, and "Stopp", the album became a commercial success and stayed on VG's album-list for 13 weeks. 

Maggio has proven to be a songwriter with an extremely well developed pop-flair, and her songs balance between the sweet and the bitter, musically as well as thematically, as much of the best pop-music often does. Her award-winning lyrics are often both easy to grasp and thought inspiring, and match the driving, often uplifting pop-melodies which are inspired by everything from Motown-soul to modern guitar-based pop and electronica. In 2012 she won three Grammis-awards for "Satan i gatan": "Pop-album of the year", "Composer of the year" and "Songwriter of the year" - last of which was shared with Christian Waltz. Her newest album to date is "Handen i fickan fast jag bryr meg", which was released in 2013. The album includes, among other things, a duet with Håkan Hellström.

Maggio has also become a sought-after live-artist, and has played to great success both at club-stages and festivals. With her captivating songs at the base - and among these what has become an impressive collection of hits - and a irresistible charisma we're all set for a good experience at Romsdalsmuseet.

Tigran Hamasyan, oft referred to as simply "Tigran", was born in Armenia in 1987. He began playing the piano as early as three years old, and at 18 won the prestigious competition Thelonious Monk International Jazz Piano. Even though Hamasyans music is jazz-oriented at its core, it also gather inspiration from a wide spectrum, especially Armenian traditional folk-music. At the same time there are clear signs of a facination for rock and prog-rock, but also classical music as well as modern electronica.

After two releases at Verve, Tigrans fifth album "Mockroot" was released by renowned Nonesuch in January this year. Recorded with a trio consist of Sam Minaie on electric bass and Arthur Hnatek on drums and electronics they mix dazzling melodic piano-runs and driving and intense rhythms, among other things with accord-heavy, rock-influenced interludes that will, at times, make you think of fusion. At the same time they take unfamiliar choices and mix in both electronica and meditative intermissions. The folk-inspired melodies, which Tigran sometimes performs vocally alongside the music, also contribute to the uniqueness of the music. The trio from Mockroot wil accompany Tigran on his visit to Molde.

Canadian-born Kris Davis is one of New York's most prominent pianists. During the past decade she has been part of, and led, a string of various ensembles, and worked closely with musicians like Tony Malaby, Eivind Opsvik, Ingrid Laubrock and Tyshawn Sorey. She participated with veteran-drummer Andre Cyrille on bass-player Eric Revis' wonderful City of Asylum in 2012. The same yet saw the quintet-release Capricorn Climber, and she has for a long time led a trio with John Hébert and Tom Rainey, a group that recently visited Bergen and Oslo. Her latest project to date is an octet with no less than four bass-clarinets. She'll visit Molde as a solo-pianist, a challenging format for many, but one that she handles expertly, as exemplified by the albums Aeriol Piano (Clean Feed) and Massive Threads (Thirsty Ear). Here, as in her other projects, you find elements from classical music and modern jazz, and like in so much of her music the interplay is on tensions between the apparently simply and the more complex: small melodies can spin off into more advanced parts, but the reverse can also take place. We look forward to an intimate meeting with one of modern jazz' most ambitious and promising pianists.

Pianist, composer, producer and academic Vijay Iver (born 1971) is one of our generations most prominent, recognized and award-winning jazz-musician, and his star seems to be ever-growing. Much of the reason for this might be a unique talent to make his unique, dynamic and challenging jazz - often balancing hefty rhythms with melodic and thematic flair - sound accessible and catchy.

Vijay Iyer has worked with musicians such as Rudresh Mahanthappa - the two visited Molde in 2007 - Wadada Leo Smith, Steve Lehman and Tyshawn Sorey in Fieldwork, Roscoe Mitchell, hip-hop artists Das Racist and Mike Ladd - to name but a few. After releasing and album on renowned Pi Recordings and German ACT, he signed with ECM a couple of years ago, something which has made it possible for him to reach out to an even larger audience. In February 2015 he released Break Stuff with his regular trio, consisting of Stephan Crump on contrabass and drummer Marcus Gilmore. The album was awarded with five stars, a perfect score, in the March-edition of Down Beat.

Marius Neset has, at the age of 30, already managed to record five albums in his own name, get nominated for Nordisk Råds Musikkpris, received a Spellemanspris, and played shows all over the world. Something which has not gone unnoticed in Norwegian and international music-press where he has been highly praised. The Guardian even go as far as saying that Neset combines the raw force of Brecker with the delicate tone of Garbarek. His music, recorded as well as live, portrays Neset as a bubbly mediator, generous band-leader and amazing composer and soloist. His latest album "Pinball" (ACT) is recorded with his own vital quintett. We look forward to a show at Moldejazz that will combine the frenetic with the reflective, mixing intensity and insinuation, and that showcases a future - but also current - truly exciting saxophonist.

Krokofant is a new name to many, but after its self-titled debut on Rune Grammofon last year, they took their first steps towards a larger audience. Krokofont is a particularly explosive and vital trio. The sound is heavily fortified in the 70's, with strong references to King Crimson, former Mahavishny, John Zorn and Peter Brötzmann. The line-up consists of Jørgen Mathiesen on saxophone, Tom Hasslan on guitar, and Axel Skalstad on drums, and the lack of a bass-player is hardly noticed. The drumming is playful, fierce and genuine. The band manage to sound free and structured at the same time, precise and heavy riffs lead to stunningly strong improvisations. Extended and wild saxophone-solos are superseded by a particularly creative, varied and virtuous guitar, without it ever taking a toll on the interaction, drive or groove. Moldejazz are proud to present this promising trio, and quote guitarist Tom Hasslan in saying: More prog to the people!

«Tiden leker og ler» is a wording from philosopher Bakhtin, and reflects on the interplay between the old and the new, where that which is born and that which dies is central, and where time reforges the old to new and leaves nothing forever. Bjørn Alterhaug isn't only "the father" of all Norwegian bassists, but also a person with a fiery passion for music, philosophy and academia. In this show he gets to combine all this passions in a appealing and elegant way. "Tiden leker og ler" is a commission work, a collaboration between Trondheim Jazzfest and Moldejazz. It's world premiere was during Jazzfest last year, and now the time has come for the Molde-audience to also receive their fair share.

Håkon Mjåset Johansen - drums, Tore Aaen Aune - flutes, Martin Myhre Olsen - saxophones, Knut Lauritzen - clarinets/saxophones, Øyvind Fjørtoft Engen - cello, Bjørn Alterhaug - contrabass/presentation