Ekhidna Hedvig Mollestad

• 1 No Friends But The Mountains 01:56
• 2 A Stone’s Throw 07:07
• 3 Antilone 10:12
• 4 Slightly Lighter 03:02
• 5 Ekhidna 09:06
• 6 One Leaf Left 07:53
• Total Runtime 39:16

Info for Ekhidna

Widely praised from Rolling Stone to Downbeat, Mojo to Wire and Jazzwise; electrifying guitarist Hedvig Mollestad hits us with a multifaceted and dynamic progressive jazzrock monster high on fierce riffs, rich textures, vibrant solos and strong melody lines.

In May 2018 Hedvig received an invitation from Vossajazz - the much loved annual festival established in 1973 - to write the commission work for 2019. This came at the right time, she had been thinking about writing for a bigger group than the trio, and this would be a good opportunity. To make it suitable for album release the full festival version was edited, sharpened and recorded from scratch in Amper Tone studio in Oslo. In addition to Hedvig on guitar, the line-up includes powerhouse drummer Torstein Lofthus (Elephant9) and percussionist Ole Mofjell, the youngest member, but with solid experience from the European improvisation scene. Keyboard duties are handled by Marte Eberson, probably most known from her five years with Highasakite, and Erlend Slettevoll (The Core and supergroup Grand General, Rune Grammofon 2013). Hedvig first met trumpeter Susana Santos Silva in Mats Gustafsson´s NU-ensemble. Ekhidna is a figure from Greek mythology; half woman, half snake. Hevig is keen to stress that it´s not a concept album as such, but loosely tied to themes of human struggle and being a mother in times when our increasing inability to live in harmony with nature paints a bleak picture.

Hedvig Mollestad Thomassen, guitar
Susana Santos Silva, trumpet
Marte Eberson, keyboards
Erlend Slettevoll, keyboards
Ole Mofjell, percussion
Torstein Lofthus, drums

Hedvig Mollestad Thomassen
founded Hedvig Mollestad Trio in 2009, and the still consisting members are Hedvig Mollestad Thomassen – guitar, Ellen Brekken – bass, Ivar Loe Bjørnstad – drums. The group was founded by Thomassen after she was awarded the prize «the young jazz talent of the year» at Molde Int. Jazz Festival the same year. The following year they toured Norway, recorded their material, and got a record deal on the highly acclaimed record label Rune Grammofon. The trio have since then released Shoot! (2011), All Of Them Witches (2013) (for which they were nominated for Norwegian Grammy in the Rock Category), Enfant Terrible (2014), Black Stabat Mater (2016), the live album Evil in Oslo (2016) and Smells funny (2018). All releases got stunning reviews in national and international press, to mention a few: The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Mojo, Uncut!, Classic Rock and All About Jazz. Next release is nov 30th in Norway and jan 18th international, titled Smells Funny.

Hedvig Mollestad Trio have played hundreds of concerts, including jazz clubs all over Norway, all the big jazz festivals in Norway (Kongsbergjazz, Moldejazz, Trondheim Jazzfest, Maijazz, Nattjazz, Sildajazz), but also large music festivals like SXSW, Berlin Jazz Festival, London Jazz Festival, Pori Jazz, Tampere Jazz Happening, Coastal Jazz, Ottawa Jazz Fatival. Øyafestival, Varangerfestivalen, Tons of Rock, Utkantfestival and PstereoFestivalen to mention a few. They have toured extendedly in Europe twice (Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Poland, Switzerland, France, Italy) and also Japan and Malaysia. They played at SXSW in 2014 and had new songs premiered in Wall Street Journal and on Guitar Player, and also a great review of both their gig and record by senior editor in Rolling Stone David Fricke.

In 2013 and through 2014 Hedvig Mollestad Trio started touring for Concerts Norway. Concerts Norway is Norway’s largest communicator of live music, and owned by the Ministry of Culture. Their primary target groups are children and young people, and each year they organize some 9000 school concerts in Norway.

Their latest release has again been covered and applauded by medias like Rolling Stone, Classic Rock, Down Beat, The Wire, Mojo, Uncut to mention a few. They have previously also teamed up with the highly acclaimed and long time saxophone rrrrriot boy Mats Gustafsson, known for his extended work as a musicien beyond borders, with no bounderies or limitations, as Mollestad and Bjørnstad also takes part in several versions of Gustafssons NU-ensemble.

They are currently doin extensive touring both in Norway and Europe to promote their latest album.

This album contains no booklet.