Few figures in European jazz have traced such a distinctive arc through the last three decades as Norwegian trumpeter and composer Nils Petter Molvær. A pivotal voice in the late 1990s wave of Nordic jazz, Molvær's work transcends genre, drawing from ambient, electronica, dub, post-rock, and traditional jazz improvisation to forge a sound that feels at once elemental and digitally altered - music shaped by fjords, silence, and signal processing.

Born in Sula in 1960, Molvær came to prominence as part of Masqualero, the group co-led by Arild Andersen that hinted at the spaciousness and rhythmic complexity he would later pursue more radically. But it was 1997’s Khmer – released on ECM – that shifted the axis. A landmark release, Khmer fused brooding electronic textures with live trumpet and fractured beats, gaining critical acclaim beyond jazz circles and prefiguring the genre-fluidism that dominates much of today’s instrumental music. It remains one of ECM’s most commercially successful and influential releases, frequently cited as a watershed for jazz's evolution in the digital age.

Over the following decades, Molvær has built a body of work that resists categorisation. Albums like Solid Ether, np3, Baboon Moon, and Buoyancy maintain a through-line of melodic restraint and sonic curiosity, with trumpet lines that often feel more like whispers or warnings than declarations. He has collaborated widely – with Bill Laswell, Moritz von Oswald, Sly & Robbie, and Eivind Aarset – yet his sound is unmistakably his own. In live performance, he’s become known for immersive, often cinematic shows where sound design plays as crucial a role as improvisation.

In the current European jazz landscape, Molvær stands as a quiet but foundational figure. His influence is audible in the ambient-inflected soundscapes of younger Nordic artists and in the crossover ambitions of groups blending jazz with club music and minimalism. While never courting the spotlight, Molvær’s work continues to resonate, offering an alternative map of where jazz can travel – not backwards through homage, but outward into new forms, still unfolding.

In signing with Edition Records in 2025, Molvær begins a new chapter that feels both natural and charged with fresh intent. The upcoming release of Khmer Live in Bergen revisits his most iconic work not as nostalgia, but as renewal—alive with raw energy and sharper edges. It’s a fitting move for an artist whose music has always looked forward, and for a label committed to artists who shape the future rather than repeat the past.