KHMER (Live in Bergen) Nils Petter Molvær

• 1 Song of Sand (Live) 08:03
• 2 Platonic Years (Live) 08:10
• 3 Kakonita (Live) 04:43
• 4 Ligotage (Live) 08:21
• 5 Vilderness (Live) 07:44
• 6 Solid Ether (Live) 09:09
• 7 On Stream (Live) 06:29
• 8 Tløn (Live) 12:44
• 9 Maja (Live) 05:16
• Total Runtime 01:10:39

Info for KHMER (Live in Bergen)

Norwegian trumpeter and sonic architect Nils Petter Molvaer presents Khmer Live in Bergen - a charged reinvention of his era-defining 1997 ECM release KHMER - recorded in concert in 2023. Fused with live trip-hop beats, ambient haze and Nordic lyricism, Khmer Live in Bergen amplifies a new energy with deeper grooves, sharper edges and greater dynamic intensity, pushing the music into a rawer, driven by experience, control and creative vision.

Performed with a newly expanded band and released on Edition Records, Khmer Live in Bergen captures the volatile electricity of Molvær’s live sound — fluid, restless and saturated with feeling. Khmer Live in Bergen is a testament to Nils Petter Molvær’s continued growth, experimentation and desire to challenge himself. The album is a powerful reminder that his sound remains vital, forceful and fully alive - constantly evolving with greater clarity, depth and intent.

Nils Petter Molvær, trumpet
Eivind Aarset, guitar, electronics
Jan Bang, live sampling
Pål «Strangefruit» Nyhus, dj, mpc programming
Audun Erlien, bass
Per Lindvall, drums
Rune Arnesen, drums, percussion

Recording and sound engineering by Sven Persson
Recording engineering by Tom Svensberget
Recorded live in concert May 25, 2024 at Nattjazz, Bergen
Mixed by Jan Bang & Sven Persson at Punkt Studio
Mastered by Helge Sten at Audio Virus Lab
Produced by Jan Bang,Sven Persson and Nils Petter Molvær
Executive producer Dave Stapleton

Nils Petter Molvær
Norwegian trumpet player, composer and producer, who takes multiple music styles – jazz, ambient, house, electronic and break beats, as well as elements from hip hop, rock and pop music – and effortlessly reshapes them into unique and dramatic soundscapes of deep intensity.

His remarkable ease in handling the often-contrary conventions of pop, rock, funk, and modern jazz ensured a strong interest in both acoustic and electric music. This chameleon-like ability soon established him as a much sought-after musician in Oslo, which ultimately led to his a colourful and diverse curriculum vitae as a sideman. During his time with acclaimed jazz combo, Masqualero, NPM was introduced to Manfred Eicher, who welcomed him into his prestigious and much-lauded roster. Alongside the three ECM Masqualero releases, NPM recorded many classic studio sessions for ECM with artists such as Robyn Schulkowsky, Marilyn Mazur, Jon Balke’s Oslo 13, and Sidsel Endresen. However, NPM wanted to do something different, both in terms of composition, and trumpet technique.

A trumpet that knows how to capture both the polar ice caps and the burning desert sand, that can portray surging crowds just as well as total solitude, that loses itself but always finds the way back again. Molvaer has his own very individual sound, influenced as much by the poetry of Scandinavian nature as by electronic calculation, and last but not least by colleagues like Miles Davis and Jon Hassell. But more than anything else, Molvaer has himself. Listening to him play, it’s easy to forget that his instrument is a trumpet.

This album contains no booklet.