Tempest Revisited
Starting out as a commissioned work, this praised 2021 release showed a more contemplative side of the guitarist, the music being a homage to her windy home town Ålesund.
“Tempest Revisited” draws lines back to 1998 and the very beginning of Rune Grammofon. This was the year we released “Electric”, the collected electronic works of Arne Nordheim, one of Norway´s greatest composers. It was also the year when parts of “The Tempest”, possibly his most cherished and well-known work, was chosen to be performed at the opening of Parken, the new cultural house in Ålesund, birthplace of Hedvig Mollestad. To celebrate 20 years, the culture house was ready for a new storm, and the first name that came to them was Hedvig. She took inspiration from the front of the house, adorned with Nordheim´s score for “The Tempest”, at the same time making a direct connection to the sometime heavy weather conditions of this coastal area in the northwest part of Norway.
One could say it´s a big paradox that over all this might be Hedvig´s most lyrical and less aggressive collection of music. On the other hand it´s a dynamic record, lots of light and shade and enough sonic parts at work to evoke the elements, the mighty Gran Cassa drum only one of them. The music included here was adapted from the initial performance in 2018 and produced by Hedvig in the studio the following year for this album release.
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The recording features
Hedvig Mollestad - guitars, voice, piano
Trond Frønes - bass
Marte Eberson - rhodes & keyboards
Ivar Loe Bjørnstad - drums
Peter Wergeni - sax
Martin Myhre Olsen - saxes
Karl Hjalmar Nyberg - sax
«This truly is the sound of jazz to come. 4/5.»
Shindig!! (UK)
Reviews
As with all of Mollestad's work, this album is shot through with a desire to connect and communicate, her playing and arrangements making potentially 'difficult' music accessible in the best possible way.
Prog (UK)
Personally, I’d find it impossible to choose which I prefer out of Mollestad’s more overtly rock music in her trio, or the jazzier, more composed output of her two solo albums to date. Fortunately no such choice is necessary, and the two different aspects of Mollestad’s work illuminate a great artistry which is significantly more than the sum of its parts.
The Quietus (US)
This truly is the sound of jazz to come. 4/5.
Shindig!! (UK)
Photos: Kim Hiorthøy and Joffe Myrvold. Live photos by Per Ole Hagen.