Nils Petter Molvær () also known as NPM (born 18 September 1960) is a Norwegian jazz trumpeter, composer, and record producer. He is considered a pioneer of future jazz, a genre that fuses jazz and electronic music, best showcased on his most commercially successful album, Khmer.
Biography
Molvær was born and raised on the island of Sula, Møre og Romsdal, Norway, and left at age nineteen to study on the Jazz program at Trondheim Musikkonservatorium (1980–82). He joined the bands Jazzpunkensemblet with Jon Eberson and Masqualero, alongside Arild Andersen, Jon Christensen and Tore Brunborg. Masqualero (named after a Wayne Shorter composition originally recorded by Miles Davis) recorded several albums for ECM Records, and Molvær recorded with other ECM artists before his 1997 debut solo album, Khmer. The record was a fusion of jazz, 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 released singles: "Song of Sand", backed with three remixes, and "Ligotage". In 2000, a second album followed, Solid Ether, after which Molvær left ECM. He has recorded several albums since, and has also produced film and theater music.
He often works with guitarist Eivind Aarset. He has also played with Tabla Beat Science, created by Zakir Hussain and Bill Laswell.
Honors
1996: Kongsberg Jazz Award
1997: Spellemannprisen in the Open class
1998: Gammleng-prisen in the class Jazz
1996: Kongsberg Jazz Award
2000: Spellemannprisen in the Open class
2003: Buddyprisen
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 (feat. Sidsel Endresen 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 Sidsel Endresen, Django Bates, Jon Christensen
1995: Hastening Westward, with Robyn Schulkowsky
1997: Small Labyrinths (recorded 1994), in Marilyn Mazur's Future Song
2005: Electra, in Arild Andersen Group
2008: Corps Electriques, with Hector Zazou/KatieJane Garside, Bill Rieflin, Lone Kent 2013: 1/1, with Moritz von Oswald 2015: Infolding, in Spin Marvel (Martin France - 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 2019: Music For Paintings, with Terje Evensen, Leo Abrahams, Anna Stereopoulou, Anthony Cox, Manongo Mujica 2023: The Harmony Codex with Steven Wilson
As featured artist
1990: Nonsentration - Jon Balke
1992: Night Caller - Rita Marcotulli
1993: Exile - Sidsel Endresen
1997: Brytningstid - Kenneth Sivertsen
1998: Électronique Noire - Eivind Aarset
2001: Radioaxiom: A Dub Transmission - Bill Laswell & Jah Wobble
2003: Digital Prophecy - Dhafer Youssef
2004: Seafarer's Song - Ketil Bjørnstad
2006: Mélange Bleu - Lars Danielsson
2007: A Pure Land - Sienná
2007: Ataraxis - Deeyah
2007: 23 Wheels of Dharma - Somma
2008: Dome - Johannes Enders
2008: Lodge - Fanu & Bill Laswell
2012: Manu Katché - Manu Katché
2015: Deeper Green - Christof May
2017: Hypersomniac - Lef
2019: Hyperuranion - Chat Noir
2021: Roses of Neurosis - Sivert Høyem
Also appears on
Beginner's Guide to Scandinavia (3CD, Nascente 2011)