snobb
Norwegian trumpeter Nils Petter Molvaer is often mentioned as one of the pioneers of European and worldwide nu jazz. His solo debut, "Khmer", changed the European scene radically in 1997 by combining Jon Hassel’s "fourth world" music, Jan Garbarek's Nordic ambient jazz and drum & bass. During the next two and half decades Molvaer tried to combine his aerial trumpet sound with house and rock, all with only limited success. Like his compatriot and fellow nu jazz cornerstone figure, pianist Bugge Wesseltoft, (who in 2011 released an original and successful duo album with German techno producer and computer guru Henrik Schwarz), Molvaer, in 2013 tries a similar duo formula with another German techno cult figure, multi-instrumentalist and producer Moritz von Oswald.
Moritz, who was born and lives in Berlin, is one of the early key figures in minimalist techno. On "1/1" he builds a dark pulse-beat based dub/techno atmosphere, filled with similar minimalist Molvaer's trumpet soloing. Different from the Wesseltoft/ Schwarz album, which was more danceable, full of rhythms and more optimistic atmosphere, "1/1" is of the Berlin electronics school. At its best moments, this music stays close to Molvaer's "Khmer", unfortunately some compositions sound way too long since nothing happens for long minutes and it looks like both artists are not sure where they are going. Still, an interesting album, some fresh breath for Molvaer.